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SELF-CULTURE, 

AND 


PERFECTION  OF  CHARACTER 


INCLUDING  THE 


MANAGEMENT  OF  YOUTH. 


BY  O.  S.  FOWLER, 

EDITOR  OP  THE  AMERICAN  PHRENOLOGICAL  JOURNAL* 


SELF-MADE  OR  NEVER  MADE. 


SEVENTH  THOUSAND — STEREOTYPED  EDITION. 


N £to  tyork: 

FOWLERS  AND  WELLS, 

PHRENOLOGICAL  CABINET,  131  NASSAU  STREBT* 
AND  BT  BOOKSELLERS  GENERALLY. 

1851. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1347, 

By  0.  S.  FOWLER, 

In  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York 


SELF-IMPROVEMENT  DIRECTORY  TABLE. 


Functions. 

Cultivation. 

Restraint. 

1.  Amativeness 

217 

218 

2.  Parental  Love  . 

219 

220-1-2 

3.  Adhesiveness 

225 

226-8-9 

227 

4.  Inhabitiveness  . 

231 

232 

5.  Continuity  . 

233 

234 

A.  Vitativeness 

236 

236 

237 

6.  Combativeness 

238 

239 

240 

7.  Destructiveness 

241 

242 

243 

8.  Alimentiveness 

244 

245 

246 

Aquativeness  . 

247 

9.  Acquisitiveness 

248 

249 

250 

10.  Secretiveness  . 

251 

252 

253 

11.  Cautiousness 

254 

255 

256 

12.  Approbativeness 

257 

258 

259 

13.  Self-Esteem  . 

260 

261 

262-3 

14.  Firmness  . 

264 

265 

266-301-3 

15.  Conscientiousness 

267 

268-9 

270 

16.  Hope 

271 

272-4 

273 

17.  Spirituality  . 

275 

276 

277 

18  Veneration 

278 

279 

280 

19.  Benevolence 

281 

282 

283 

20.  Constructiveness 

284 

285 

286 

21.  Ideality 

287 

288 

289 

B.  Sublimity. 

289 

290 

291 

22.  Imitation 

292 

293 

294 

23.  Mirthfulness 

295 

296 

297 

D.  Agreeableness 

298 

299 

300 

A dot,  or  any  other  mark,  with  the  pen,  will  be  placed  in  the  square 
containing  the  number  of  the  paragraphs  which  give  the  required  direc 
tions.  But  where  several  persons  are  marked  on  the  same  table,  a hori- 
zontal stroke,  or  dash,  — will  be  used  for  the  first;  a perpendicular 
erected  on  it,  thus  -1-,  fer  the  second ; this  perpendicular  continued  below 
the  horizontal,  making  a cross,  thus  +,  for  the  third ; a horizontal  curve 
over  this  cross,  thus  -{-,  for  the  fourth ; under  for  the  fifth ; to  the  right 
hand  for  the  sixth ; and  the  left  hand  for  the  seventh : so  that  the  follow- 
ing  mark  '+)  stands  for  all  seven 

585458 


SELF-IMPROVEMENT  DIRECTORY  TABLE 


Functions. 

Cultivation. 

Restraint. 

1.  Amativeness 

217 

218 

2.  Parental  Love 

219 

220-1-2 

3.  Adhesiveness 

225 

226-8-9 

227 

4.  Lihabitiveness 

231 

232 

5.  Continuity  . 

233 

234 

A.  Vitativeness 

236 

236 

237 

6.  Combativeness 

238 

239 

240 

7.  Destructiveness 

241 

242 

243 

8.  Alimentiveness 

244 

245 

246 

Aquativeness 

247 

9.  Acquisitiveness 

248 

249 

250 

10.  Secretiveness 

251 

252 

253 

11.  Cautiousness 

254 

255 

256 

12.  Approbativeness 

257 

258 

259 

13.  Self-Esteem  . 

260 

261 

262-3 

14.  Firmness  . 

264 

265 

266-301-3 

15.  Conscientiousness 

267 

268-9 

270 

16.  Hope 

271 

272-4 

273 

17.  Spirituality 

275 

276 

277 

18.  Veneration 

278 

279 

280 

19.  Benevolence 

281 

282 

283 

20.  Constructiveness 

284 

285 

286 

21.  Ideality 

287 

288 

289 

B.  Sublimity. 

289 

290 

291 

22.  Imitation 

292 

293 

294 

23.  Mirthfulness 

295 

296 

297 

I).  Agreeableness 

298 

299 

300 

A dot,  or  any  other  mark,  with  the  pen,  will  be  placed  in  the  square 
containing  the  number  of  the  paragraphs  which  give  the  required  direc- 
tions. But  where  several  persons  are  marked  on  the  same  table,  a hori- 
zontal stroke,  or  dash,  — will  be  used  for  the  first ; a perpendicular 
erected  on  it,  thus  for  the  second ; this  perpendicular  continued  below 
the  horizontal,  making  a cross,  thus  -}-,  lor  the  third ; a horizontal  curve 
over  this  cross,  thus  -}-,  for  the  fourth ; under  for  the  fifth ; to  the  right, 
hand  for  the  sixth ; and  the  left  hand  for  the  seventh : so  that  the  follow  - 
ing  mark  (-j-)  stands  for  all  seven 


PREFACE 


TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


Improvement  is  the  practical  watch- word  of  the  age. 
Since  the  Revolution,  men  have  probably  made  more 
numerous  and  valuable  inventions  and  discoveries  in 
machinery,  agriculture,  and  the  means  of  human  com- 
fort and  luxury,  than  ever  before  since  the  Creation. 
Yet,  while  they  are  straining  every  nerve  to  its  utmost 
tension  to  devise  some  shorter  and  still  shorter  road  to 
augment  wealth,  and  the  facilities  for  promoting  merely 
animal  gratifications,  and  those  mostly  artificial,  how 
few  care  or  attempt  to  improve  their  intellectual  or 
moral  faculties.  If  they  can  but  amass  riches,  live  in 
splendid  palaces  and  princely  style,  and  procure  the 
means  of  indulging  the  selfish  propensities,  they  exult  in 
having  attained  “ the  highest  good,”  though  intellect  lie 
waste,  and  moral  pleasures  are  unknown.  And  even 
the  few  who  attempt  to  improve  their  higher  faculties 
know  neither  where  to  begin  nor  how  to  proceed. 

Is  this  right  ? Does  it  comport  with  the  great  end  of 
our  creation  ? Is  it  even  our  true  interest  ? Does  it 
secure  out  highest  happiness  ? Neither,  as  man’s  sad 
experience  abundantly  attests.  His  intellectual  anl 
moral  faculties  constitute  the  great  fountain  of  human 
enjoyment,  while  physical  gratifications  are  only  inci- 
dental— mere  tributaries.  He  must  be  happy  in  the 
moral  deportment  of  his  nature,  or  be  for  ever  misera- 


1 r PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

ble.  With  this  settled  ordinance  of  his  nature  he  must 
comply,  or  else  suffer  the  penalty  affixed  to  the  breach 
of  this  cardinal  law  of  his  moral  constitution. 

To  expound*  in  view  of  these  principles,  the  laws  oi 
virtue,  and  develop  nature’s  method  of  cultivating  the 
higher  and  holier  capabilities  of  our  nature ; to  guide 
the  young  into  the  paths  of  goodness,  and  consequent 
happiness ; to  show  parents  and  teachers  how  to  con- 
duct the  moral  training  and  government  of  children  • 
and  to  disclose  to  all  aspirants  after  self-improvement 
the  means  of  securing  “the  highest  good”  by  expounding 
the  laws  of  our  moral  being  and  inciting  to  their  obedi- 
ence— objects  the  most  exalted  which  can  possibly  en- 
gage human  attention  or  effort — is  this  work  laid  before 
the  public.  It  discloses  the  true  sources  of  human  en- 
joyment, and  will  conduct  inquirers,  especially  youthful, 
to  the  fountain-head  of  all  pleasure,  where  they  may 
drink  deep  and  perpetually  of  those  delicious  and  soul- 
renovating  waters  of  moral  enjoyment,  which  our  Crea- 
tor proffers  without  stint  to  all  who  will  accept  this 
God-conferred  and  Heaven-tending  boon.  It  will  show 
all  how  to  guide  and  regulate  their  feelings  and  conduct ; 
how  to  restrain  and  subdue  their  “ easily  besetting 
sins”  ; improve  their  moral  characters  ; and  exercise 
all  their  faculties  in  harmony  with  their  primitive  con- 
stitution, and  thereby  render  their  action  always  vir- 
tuous, so  as  thus  to  secure  that  one  end  of  their  being 

- — HAPPINESS. 

To  give  a more  specific  aspect  of  its  object  and  adap- 
tation : Applicants  for  phrenological  examinations  are 
daily  and  earnestly  inquiring — “ How  can  I remedy  my 
defects  ? By  what  means  can  1 increase  my  deficient 
organs,  and  diminish  or  regulate  those  that  are  too 
large?”  Man  naturallv  longs  for  higher  and  still  higher 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


V 


intellectual  and  moral  attainments.  The  scale  or  range 
of  self-improvement  is  illimitable.  However  high  a 
point  we  may  reach,  we  naturally  desire  to  rise  higher 
and  still  higher,  till  w 3 become  “ perfect,  as  God  is  per- 
fect.” And  the  higher  we  rise,  the  stronger  our  desire 
to  press  forward  and  upward  into  a state  still  more  ex- 
alted. At  no  previous  point  of  time,  probably,  has  this 
desire  equalled  its  present  point  of  intensity.  Parents, 
in  particular,  are  inquiring  with  deep  solicitude — “ How 
can  I make  my  children  better  ? That  new  and  most 
powerful  mental  stimulant  furnished  by  our  republican 
institutions,  has  waked  up  a mighty  hungering  and  thirst- 
ing, especially  in  parents  and  the  young,  after  moral 
excellence.  These  important  inquiries — How  can  I 
render  myself,  and  how  make  my  children  better  ? 
this  work  answers  scientifically.  It  bases  every  di- 
rection in  those  laws  of  mind  developed  by  Phrenolo- 
gy— that  exponent  of  all  the  moral  laws  of  our  being, 
that  epitome  of  all  mental  knowledge,  that  great  director 
of  the  constituent  elements  of  perfection,  and  how  to 
attain  it.  This  science  of  mind  not  only  teaches  us  oui 
characters,  but  also,  what  is  infinitely  more  important,  u' 
how  to  improve  them.  It  shows  us  in  what  perfection 
consists,  and  how  to  form  character  and  mould  mind  in 
accordance  with  its  conditions.  Self-knowledge  must 
precede  self-improvement,  but  never  supersede  it.  For- 
merly, phrenologists  were  content  with  reading  them- 
selves and  others  through  this  mirror  of  human  nature, 
but  they  now  seek  earnestly  to  apply  it  to  their  own  in- 
tellectual and  moral  progression,  and  that  of  the  rising 
generation — an  application  which,  practically  made,  will 
more  effectually  subserve  human  advancement  and  hap- 
piness, than  all  the  discoveries  and  inventions,  all  the 
metaphysical  and  even  theological  speculations,  together 


Vi  PREFACE  T£  THE  FIRST  EDITiON. 

with  all  the  educational  efforts  of  the  age  and  of  all  ages 
combined ; because  this  discloses  the  true  philosophy 
of  mind,  and  shows  how  to  perfect  it ; while  they  apper- 
tain to  physics,  or  enter  the  department  of  mind  only  to 
becloud  it.  Tc  the  elucidation  of  these  momentous 
truths,  these  pages  are  devoted. 


131  Nassau  Street,  New  York,  July,  1842. 


PREFACE 


TO  THE  IMPROVED  EDITION. 


More  than  two-thirds  of  the  time  since  this  work  was 
first  published,  it  has  been  out  of  print,  because  the 
author  was  unwilling  to  re-publish  till  he  could  improve 
it  more  to  his  liking.  But  its  subject  matter  is 
deemed  too  important  to  allow  minor  defects  to  with- 
hold it  from  the  public.  To  do  good  by  disclosing  the 
only  true  method  of  conducting  self-improvement,  and, 
above  all,  to  put  juvenile  education  upon  the  basis  of  the 
nature  of  man — these  transcendently  important  consid- 
erations urged  its  immediate  re-publication ; and  those 
who  prefer  utility  of  matter  to  beauty  of  style,  will  ex- 
cuse its  defects  while  they  profit  by  its  suggestions. 

Its  principles  are  all  true.  They  are  not  hastily  put 
forth.  Every  idea  advanced  has  been  thoroughly  scru- 
tinized in  all  its  aspects.  Its  subject  matter  needs  no 
apology,  only  its  authorship.  Probably  no  ten  pages 
of  it  can  be  carefully  perused  without  essential  benefit. 
Parents  will  find  it  a text-book  by  which  to  mould  the  * 
characters  of  their  dear  children.  All  can  learn  from  it 
how  to  live — how  to  become  good — how  to  render 
themselves  happy. 


PREFACE 


TO  THE  STEREOTYPE  EDITION 


Of  the  five  years  since  this  work  was  first  published, 
it  has  been  on  sale  less  than  two,  because  each  edition 
was  bought  up  before  the  author  could  command  time 
to  effect  the  improvements  he  desired.  Though  it  is 
now  far  from  being  perfect,  yet  every  portion  of  it  has 
been  re-written.  The  matter  of  the  former  volume  has 
been  condensed  from  three  hundred  and  fifty  pages  oc- 
tavo to  less  than  two  hundred  duodecimo,  besides  having 
been  every  way  improved,  and  over  six  hundred  pages 
of  new  matter  added — though  this  addition  appertains  in 
part  to  Vol.  I.,  or  “ Physiology,  Animal  and  Mental,”  and 
to  “ Memory,”  or  Intellectual  Education,  which  consti- 
tutes Yol.  III.,  as  well  as  to  this  work,  which  constitutes 
Yol.  II. 

Our  subject  naturally  divides  itself  into  three  depart- 
ments : Physical  improvement,  or  the  preservation  and 
restoration  of  health  ; Moral  improvement,  or  the  proper 
cultivation  and  regulation  of  the  feelings  and  moral  af- 
fections ; and  Intelectual  improvement,  or  mental  dis- 
cipline. This  order  we  have  followed  by  allotting  a 
volume  to  each ; so  that  those  who  wish  to  prosecute 
either  separately,  can  do  so,  or  all  can  be  had  bound  to- 
gether ; yet  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  whoe's  er  reads  one 
will  be  incited  thereby  to  read  them  all.  To  facilitate 
references  from  all  parts  of  each  volume  to  all  parts  of  . 


X 


PREFACE  TO  THE  STEREOTYPE  EDITION. 


the  others,  each  distinct  idea  advanced  has  received  an 
appropriate  head  and  number,  to  which  reference  is  had 
by  those  small  and  elevated  figures,  called  superiors 
found  interspersed  through  the  volumes. 

Tables  have  also  been  prepared,  in  which  those  who 
secure  the  requisite  examinations,  are  referred  to  those 
passages  in  each  volume,  which  direct  them  how  to  im- 
prove those  faculties  more  especially  defective,  and 
restrain  those  most  liable  to  perversion. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 


CONSTITUENT  ELEMENTS  OR  CONDITIONS  OF  PERFECTION 
OF  CHARACTER. 

SECTION  I. 


PROGRESSION  A LAW  OF  THINGS — ITS  APPLICATION  TO  HUMAN  AND 
PERSONAL  IMPROVEMENT. 


PAGE. 

201.  The  earth  progressive. — 202.  The  multiplication  of  all  that 
grows. — 203.  Increase  of  population. — 204.  Improving  their  quali- 
ties.— 205.  Human  perfectibility. — 206.  Individual  progression.  19 — 34 


SECTION  II. 


CONDITIONS  OF  PERFECTION  AND  ENJOYMENT. 

207.  The  harmonious  action  of  all  the  faculties. — 208.  Normality  of 
function. — 209.  Cerebral  diseases  causing  depravity.  - 34 — 43 

SECTION  III. 

THE  INTER-RELATION  EXISTING  BETWEEN  THE  BODY  AND  THE 

PROPENSITIES. 

210.  Existence  of  this  reciprocity  of  condition. — 211.  Governing  the 
propensities  by  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties.  44 — 68 

SECTION  IV. 

THE  EVENLY-BALANCED,  A PROPORTIONATE  ACTION  OF  THE  FAC 

ULTIES  A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION ITS  FEASIBILITY,  AND 

THE  MODE  OF  SECURING  IT. 

212.  Proportion  a condition  of  perfection. — 213.  Proof  that  the  or- 
gans can  be  enlarged  and  diminished. — 214.  The  personal  exercise 
of  the  faculties. — 215.  Means  of  exciting  the  faculties. — 216.  “Know 
our  own  selves.”  68— *118 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ANALYST'S  AND  MEANS  OF  STRENGTHENING  THE  FACULTIES. 

1.  AMATIY  ENESS. 

PAGE. 

217.  Definition,  location,  and  adaptation.— 218.  Perversion  and  re- 
straint. - - - 119 — 120 


2.  PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 

219.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 220.  Adaptation  and 
cultivation. — 221.  Duty  and  mode  of  its  cultivation. — 222.  Mater- 
nal love  and  duty. — 223.  Cultivation  in  the  unmarried  and 
children.  -------  120 — 136 


3.  ADHESIVENESS. 

224.  Definition,  location,  and  function. — 225.  Large  and  small. — 

226.  Adaptation  and  cultivation. — 227.  Due  regulation  and  re- 
straint.— 228.  Cultivation  in  children. — 229.  Choosing  associates 
for  children — schools.  -----  135 — 145 

UNION  FOR  LIFE. 

230.  Definition,  location,  adaptation,  and  cultivation.  - 146 — 147 

4.  INHABITIVENESS. 

231.  Definition,  location,  and  effects  on  character. — 232.  Adaptation 

and  cultivation.  -----  147 — 148 

5.  CONTINUITY,  OR  CONCENTRATIVENESS. 

233.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 234.  Adaptation,  cul- 
tivation, and  restraint.  - - 149 — 150 


A.  VITATIVENESS. 

235.  Definition,  location,  and  adaptation. — 236.  Its  cultivation — dread 
of  death. — 237.  The  dead  and  their  interment — mourners.  151 — 159 

6.  COMBATIVENESS. 

238.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 239.  Adaptation  and 
cultivation. — 240.  Its  abuses  and  due  regulation.  - 159 — 165 

7.  DESTRUCTIVENESS,  OR  EXECUTIVENESS. 

241.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 242.  Adaptation  and 
cultivation. — 243.  Due  regulation  and  restraint — swearing.  166-^-172 

8.  ALIMENTIVENESS. 

244.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 245.  Adaptation  and 
means  of  cultivation. — 246.  Restraint  and  right  direction.  173 — 178 

AQUATIVENESS,  OR  BIBATIVENESS. 

247.  Definition,  location,  adaptation,  and  cultivation. 


179—181 


CONTENTS. 


xiii 


9.  ACQUISITIVENESS. 

PAGE. 

248.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 249.  Adaptation  and 
cultivation. — 250.  Due  regulation  and  restraint.  - - 181 — 195 

10.  SECRETIVENESS. 

251.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 252.  Adaptation  and 
cultivation. — 253.  Restraint  and  due  regulation.  - - 196 — 202 

11.  CAUTIOUSNESS. 

254..  Definition,  function,  and  location. — 255.  Adaptation  and  culti- 
vation.— 256.  Restraint  and  due  regulation.  - - 202 — 208 

12.  APPROBATIVENESS. 

257.  Definition,  function,  and  location. — 258.  Adaptation  and  cultiva- 
tion. 259.  Due  regulation  and  restraint.  - - 208 — 216 

13.  SELE-ESTEEM. 

260.  Definition,  function,  and  location. — 261.  Adaptation  and  cultiva- 
tion.— 262.  Self-government,  or  the  training  of  the  will. — 263.  Re- 
straint and  due  regulation  of  Self-Esteem.  - - 217 — 228 

14.  FIRMNESS. 

264.  Definition,  function,  and  location. — 265.  Adaptation  and  cul- 
tivation.— 266.  Restraint  and  right  direction.  - - 229 — 232 

15.  CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 

267.  Definition,  function,  and  location. — 268.  Adaptation  and  culti- 
vation.— 269.  Human  accountability  and  guilt. — 270.  Right  di- 
rection of  Conscientiousness.  - 232 — 246 


16.  HOPE. 

271.  Definition,  location,  and  function. — 272.  Adaptation  and  cul- 
tivation.— 273.  Due  regulation  and  restraint. — 274.  A future 
state.  -------  247 — 252 


17.  SPIRITUALITY— MARVELLOUSNESS. 

275.  Definition,  location,  and  function. — 276.  Adaptation  and  cultiva- 
tion.— 277.  Due  regulation.  - 253 — 261 

18.  VENERATION. 

278.  Definition,  location,  and  function. — 279.  Adaptation  and  cultiva- 
tion.— 280.  Restraint  and  due  regulation.  - - 262 — 270 

19.  BENEVOLENCE. 

281.  Definition,  location,  and  function. — 282.  Adaptation  and  cultiva- 
tion.— 283.  Restraint  and  due  regulation.  - - 270 — 279 

20.  CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 

284.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 285.  Adaptation  and 
cultivation. — 286.  Restraint  and  due  regulation.  - - 279 — 284 


xiv 


CONTENTS. 


21.  IDEALITY 

PAGE 

28 7.  Definition,  function,  and  location. — 288.  Adaptation  and  cultiva- 
tion.— 289.  Due  regulation.  - 284 — 289 

B.  SUBLIMITY. 

290.  Definition,  location,  and  function. — 291.  Adaptation  and  cultiva- 
tion.— 292.  Regulation.  -----  289 — 290 


22.  IMITATION. 

293.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 294.  Adaptation  and 
cutivation.— 295.  Due  regulation — theatricals.  - - 290 — 295 

23.  MIRTHFULNESS. 

296.  Definition  and  location — large  and  small. — 297.  Adaptation  and 
cultivation. — 298.  Restraint  and  due  regulation.  - - 295 — 299 

C.  AGREEABLENESS. 

299.  Definition,  location,  and  function. — 300.  Adaptation  and  cultiva- 
tion. -------  299 — 300 

SUMMARY  APPLICATION  TO  JUVENILE  MANAGEMENT  AND 
PERSONAL  IMPROVEMENT. 

301.  The  punishment  of  children. — 302.  Governing  by  intellect  and 
will  — 303.  Arraying  the  moral  faculties  against  the  animal.  30 1—  '312 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

NO  PAGE. 

1.  Structure  of  the  Brain  and  Nervous  System 45 

2.  Zigomatic  Arch 89 

3.  Young  Franklin 93 

4.  Old  Franklin 94 

5.  Mrs.  Smith 120 

6.  Mr.  J.  Johnson 121 

7.  Gotfried 166 

8.  Eustache 166 

9.  The  Emperor  Yitellius 173 

10.  Teller 182 

11.  Gosse 182 

12.  Aaron  Burr 193 

13.  Dr.  Samuel  Thompson 197 

14.  Vendovi,  a Feejee  Chief 203 

15.  Diana  Waters 203 

16.  Judge  Brocchus  Livingston - 218 

17.  The  Conceited  Simpleton 227 

18.  John  Ordinaux 229 

19.  Conscientiousness  Large 233 

20.  Conscientiousness  Small 233 

21.  Negro  Murderer 262 

23.  Diana  Waters 263 

22.  Father  Oberlin 263 

24.  Gosse 271 

25.  Gotfried 271 

26.  Clara  Fisher  291 

27.  Jacob  Jarvis 291 

28.  Joseph  C.  Neal 296 


SELF-IMPRC  VEMENT 


CHAPTER  I. 

CONST l'TUENT  ELEMENTS  OR  CONDITIONS  OF  PERFECTION 
OF  CHARACTER, 


SECTION  I. 

PROGRESSION  A LAW  OF  THINGS ITS  APPLICATION  TO  HUMAN 

AND  PERSONAL  I IMPROVEMENT. 

201.  THE  EARTH  PROGRESSIVE. 

Improvement  is  written  in  living  characters  upon  every 
department  of  nature.  The  earth  herself,  once  probaly  only 
a gaseous  formation,  during  the  lapse  of  infinite  ages,  con- 
densed and  cooled  till  a crust  formed  upon  her  surface,  and 
she  became  ultimately  fitted  for  the  abode  of  life.  But  her 
earlier  productions,  as  evinced  by  the  petrifactions  found  in 
her  lowest  strata  of  organic  deposit,  were  coarse  in  structure, 
and  every  way  exceedingly  inferior.  Yet  every  successive 
epoch,  compared  with  preceding  ones,  and  even  the  latter  as 
compared  with  the  previous  portions  of  each  era,  brought  forth 
vegetables  and  animals  of  a higher  and  still  higher  order,  in 
the  exact  date  of  the  world’s  age,  doubtless  because,  as  she 
grew  older,  her  elements  became  prepared  to  produce  and  sus. 
tain  a higher  and  still  higher  order  of  life,  till,  at  the  epoch 
just  preceding  the  creation  of  man,  a lower  order  of  th* 
monkey  tribe  made  its  appearance  ; and  finally,  when  this  law 
of  progression  had  fitted  the  earth  for  the  habitation  of  man, 
the  “ lord  of  creation”— this  last  and  most  perfect  work  of 
God — was  ushered  into  being. 


20 


PROGRESSION  A LAW  OF  THINGS. 


Nor  did  her  progress  stop  heie.  Her  fertility  is  still  be- 
coming constantly  re-augmented.  All  her  mountains,  hills, 
and  even  rocks,  as  well  as  all  those  materials  of  which  she  is 
formed,  are  only  so  many  store-houses  of  manure,  and  consist 
of  materials  for  making  and  enriching  soil.  By  slow  degrees 
the  outside  and  fissures  of  rocks  decay,  and  ultimately  form 
soil,  which  wind  and  water  transport  to  her  valleys,  and  thus 
both  supply  the  waste  effected  by  growth,  and  perpetually 
enhance  her  fertility.  Of  this  the  rich  mould  in  the  seams  of 
rocks  and  around  stones,  and  the  strength  of  stony  land,  as 
well  as  the  fact  that  lime,  pulverized  rock,  and  some  kinds  of 
sand,  re-fertilize  the  earth,  furnishes  both  proofs  and  examples. 
Nor  will  this  process  cease,  or  our  world  be  destroyed,  till  all 
her  mountains,  all  her  depths,  are  converted  by  surface  decay 
into  soil,  vegetable  formations,  animal  fabrics,  and  the  materials 
for  the  manifestation  of  mind.  Our  world  was  not  created 
yesterday,  and  will  not  grow  old  or  be  destroyed  to-morrow. 
These  exhaustless  stores,  capable  of  being  converted  into  vege- 
table and  animal  life,  Were  not  created  in  vain,  and  will  not 
be  destroyed,  but,  during  countless  millions  of  centuries  to 
come,  will  go  on  illimitably  to  re-augment  the  earth’s  fertility, 
and  minister  to  human  happiness.  Indeed,  every  successive 
age  will  render  her  more  and  still  more  a paradise,  and  fit  her 
to  enhance,  more  and  more,  the  happiness  of  all  sentient  life  ! 

This  conclusion  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  vegetable  and 
animal  offal  decay,  re-enrich  the  soil,  and  re-augment  the 
earth’s  productiveness.  In  fact,  this  enriching  process  cannot 
be  prevented.  Hence  a given  piece  of  land,  tilled  in  the 
best  possible  manner,  if  re-enriched  only  with  the  manure 
made  from  the  cast-off  portion  of  its  own  products,  and  espe- 
cially if  chemistry  and  electricity  be  brought  into  requisition, 
will  support  human  life,  and  yet  become  richer  and  more  pro- 
ductive illimitably,  and  forever  ! 

202.  THE  MULTIPLICATION  OF  ALL  THAT  GROWS 

Furnishes  another  illustration  of  this  principle  of  progres- 
sion. No  nut,  grain,  or  seed  whatever,  is  content  to  re-place 
itself  but  every  vegetable,  every  animal,  is  constituted  to 


INCREASE  OF  POPULATION. 


21 


“ multiply.55  A single  elm-nut  produces  a tree  which  often 
re-produces  many  millions  of  nuts  per  year,  for  centuries, 
enough,  if  all  were  properly  planted  and  tended,  to  cover  a 
large  area  of  the  earth’s  surface.  The  seeds  borne  by  a single 
apple  or  cherry  tree  furnish  another  example.  This  multi- 
plying law  appertains  equally  to  the  seeds  of  all  vegetables, 
of  all  fruits,  of  all  grains,  of  universal  vegetable  life.  Behold 
throughout  the  whole  earth  the  perpetual  workings  of  this  pro- 
lific principle,  not  only  in  filling  her  gradually  but  effectually 
with  all  manner  of  products,  but  also  in  furnishing  a vast  sur- 
plus for  waste  and  the  sustenance  of  life  ! 

This  law  of  universal  increase,  except  when  thwarted  by 
art,  is  perpetually  multiplying  the  entire  animal  kingdom, 
and  may  possibly  be  multiplying  suns  and  worlds  from  age  to 
age  ! In  general,  the  more  inferior  the  animal,  the  more  fruit- 
ful. This  prolific  law,  applied  to  man,  is  also  perpetually 
effecting  an 

203.  INCREASE  OF  POPULATION. 

The  inhabitants  of  given  nations  and  districts  unravaged  by 
war,  are  reputed  to  double  every  twenty-five  years.  Our  own 
population  redoubles  every  twenty-three  years.  How  astonish- 
ing our  increase  within  the  memory  of  us  all.  At  this  rate, 
what  will  it  become  in  a hundred  years  ? Over  three  hundred 
millions — sixteen  then,  to  one  now ! And  in  two  hundred  years, 
over  five  thousand  millions — twenty-five  hundred  then,  to  one 
now  ! Nor  is  2046  so  far  off  either,  but  that  some  of  our  great 
grand-children  will  see  it ! And  in  a thousand  years,  above 

FIVE  AND  A HALF  BILLIONS  OF  MILLIONS  TO  ONE  NOW  ! ! Other 

civilized  nations  will  meanwhile  also  increase.  A thousand 
years  will  crowd  every  mountain  and  crevice,  and  every  isle 
of  the  sea  on  the  whole  earth,  yet  this  numerical  progres- 
sion of  man  will  not  cease  in  a thousand  years,  nor  in  a hun- 
dred thousand.  Its  ultimate  destiny,  man’s  finite  mind  cannot 
conceive.  Yet  this  is  certain,  that  it  will  both  crowd  land  and 
water  with  human  beings  to  the  utmost  capacity  of  room  and 
sustenance,  after  plying  every  possible  means  of  augmenting 
her  productiveness  on  the  one  hand,  and  observing  the  utmost 
economy  of  the  means  of  subsistence  on  the  other,  and  then 


22 


PROGRESSION  A LAW  OF  THINGS. 


keep  them  as  full  as  the  highest  happiness  of  the  greatest 
number  will  allow,  probably  countless  millions  of  years  ; for 
to  nature,  “ a thousand  years  are  as  one  day.”  Though  this 
multiplying  principle,  doubtless,  has  its  natural  check  by 
which  to  prevent  over  population,  yet  God  alone  knows  the 
prospective  number  of  his  children  ! 

Nor  does  this  prolific  law  multiply  vegetables,  animal,  and 
human  life  merely.  It  is  also  perpetually 

204.  IMPROVING  THEIR  QUALITIES. 

Take  an  illustration  from  the  kingdom  of  fruits.  The  tree 
which  grows  from  an  apple  seed  rarely  bears  an  apple  like 
that  in  which  its  seed  grew ; because  it  must  be  impregnated 
with  some  foreign  pollin  in  order  to  its  fructification.  Sup- 
pose, then,  that  a blossom  on  a tree  which  bears  sweet  apples 
is  impregnated  by  the  pollin — transported  by  wind,  or  bee,  or 
insect — of  a sour  apple-tree,  the  tree  which  grows  from  this 
seed  will  bear  an  apple  unlike  its  sweet  or  sour  parentage,  but 
between  the  two,  a blending  of  the  qualities  of  both,  and  per- 
haps better  than  either ; and  thus  of  the  seeds  of  all  other 
apples,  cherries,  peaches,  pears,  plums,  and  fruits  of  all  kinds. 
This  very  principle  is  now  at  work  over  the  whole  earth,  to 
improve  and  re-improve  from  age  to  age  every  species  of  fruit 
which  grows.  It  is  constantly  reproducing  new  and  superior 
kinds  of  apples,  and  varieties  of  the  plum,  peach,  and  grape 
more  and  still  more  fair  and  delicious  as  time  rolls  on.  Our 
forefathers  were  not  permitted  to  feast  themselves  on  fruits  any- 
where near  as  rich  or  various  as  those  which  delight  our  taste  ; 
and  our  descendants  will  regale  their  palates  both  with  new 
varieties,  and  those  almost  incalculably  more  delicious  than 
any  we  now  enjoy.  Let  those  who  question  this,  recount  the 
improvements  in  fruits  which  have  taken  place  since  they  can 
remember,  or  compare  the  fruits  of  old  orchards  with  those 
of  new.  None  but  those  who  have  eaten  the  new  Flemish, 
and  other  varieties  of  the  pear,  can  either  appreciate  this 
improvement  or  realize  what  delicious  fruits  this  very  prin- 
ciple has  recently  brought  forth.  And  may  we  not  safely 
predicate  what  will  be  from  what  has  been,  especially  when 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  HERB  AND  ANIMAL. 


23 


our  own  eyes  see  the  actual  workings  of  that  very  law  whicn 
is  effecting  such  improvement  ? Is  nature’s  ingenuity  or 
means  exhausted  ? Scarcely  commenced.  Barely  reached 
a fair  beginning.  All  our  splendid  varieties  of  the  pear 
doubtless  spring  from  an  austere,  hard,  astringent  variety, 
and  this  parented  by  the  little,  insipid  thorn-pear.  All 
those  large,  beautiful,  productive,  rich,  and  delicious  varieties 
of  the  apple,  adapted  to  all  tastes,  which  regale  our  palates, 
doubtless  sprung  from  the  hard,  austere,  astringent  crab-apple, 
and  this  was  probably  parented  by  the  little,  bitter  thorn- 
apple. 

All  those  magnificent  varieties  of  peaches  which  delight 
our  appetite,  and  moisten  the  parched  mouth  in  oppressive 
August,  were  parented  by  a small,  nurly,  bitter,  and  even 
poisonous  product  of  the  Persian  desert. 

Of  the  potato  this  is  equally  true — true  of  universal  nature. 
Nor  is  the  end  yet,  only  the  beginning.  If  from  such  materials 
for  a commencement,  this  improving  law  has  wrought  out  such 
magnificent  edibles,  what,  with  those  luscious  fruits  on  which 
to  start  anew,  will  it  not  produce  in  ages  to  come  ! And  since 
every  new  variety  can  be  disseminated  and  perpetuated  il- 
limitably,  by  grafting,  it  is  not  possible  for  the  most  exalted 
imaginings  to  depict  upon  what  luxurious  varieties  of  all 
kinds  of  fruits,  if  not  of  new  varieties,  our  descendants  will 
regale  themselves  a thousand  years  hence ! 

Nor  does  this  progressive  principle  improve  fruit  merely, 
but  applies  equally  to  animals.  From  the  inter-propagation 
of  different  breeds  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  etc.,  new,  and  often 
superior,  kinds  are  produced.  And  thus  of  all  that  grows. 
In  short,  this  all-perfecting  principle  must  necessarily  con- 
tinue, throughout  all  time,  to  carry  forward  and  upward  every 
department  of  nature  to  higher  and  still  higher  degrees  of 
perfection,  inconceivably  and  illimkably  ! Our  eyes  behold 
only  the  mere  beginnings  of  those  incalculably  glorious  re- 
sults which  this  progressiva  law  must  ultimately  work  out  to 
all  sentient  beings ! 


24 


PROGRESSION  A LAW  OF  THINGS, 


205.  HUMAN  PERFECTIBILITY. 

But  much  as  this  law  of  progression  should  awaken  emo- 
tions of  gratitude  and  admiration  for  improving  soil,  fruit, 
animals,  and  nature  in  general,  shall  we  not  rejoice  that  it 
applies  also  to  our  race,  and  in  a degree  as  much  higher  as  it 
is  their  superior  ? How  should  we  literally  exult  in  the  pro- 
spect, aye,  certainty,  that  man  is  not  always  to  remain  that  low, 
stupid,  .degraded,  ignorant,  senseless,  gross,  sensual,  glutton- 
ous, lustful,  deceitful,  selfish,  cruel,  tyrannical,  rapacious, 
blood-thirsty,  depraved  animal  thing  he  now  is,  and  always 
has  been.  He  commenced  his  career  under  the  dominion  of 
the  organs  located  in  the  back  and  lower  portion  of  the  head — 
the  social.  For  three  thousand  years  he  cared  and  lived 
mainly  for  offspring  and  sodomy ; of  which  the  exultation  of 
Eve  over  the  birth  of  every  child,  the  desire  of  Abraham, 
Sarah,  Leah,  Rachel,  Tamar,  the  daughters  of  Lot,  and  ail 
the  ancients  for  issue ; the  vauntings  of  the  fabled  Niobe  on 
account  of  her  having  seven  sons  and  seven  daughters,  the 
grossest  sensuality  of  the  cities  of  the  plain,  the  unbridled 
licentiousness  of  Babylon,  the  number  and  devotedness  of 
the  worshippers  of  Venus  throughout  the  old  world,  and  much 
more  to  this  effect,  bears  ample  testimony.  But  the  power  of 
these  passions  evidently  diminished  as  time  rolled  on,  and  has 
finally  yielded  its  sway  to  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness, 
the  organs  of  which  are  located  higher  up  and  farther  for- 
ward than  the  social.  War  succeeded  love,  first  uniting  with 
it  in  chivalry,  and  the  world  has  run  mad,  almost  down  to 
our  own  times,  after  martial  glory.  Those  who  have  won 
battles  have  been  the  earth’s  idols. 

Alimentiveness — still  farther  forward — united  with  war, 
and  Bacchus  revelled  with  Venus  and  Mars.  But  within  the 
last  three  centuries  a new  divinity — a god  of  gold  and  goods— 
has  become  a joint  partner  with  sensuality,  war,  and  feasting, 
and  is  now  fast  usurping  universal  dominion.  Wealth  is  now 
man’s  master  passion.  Its  organ  is  located  still  higher  up, 
and  farther  forward,  and  this  shows  that  man  is  advancing 
towards  that  ascendency  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  facuL 


HUMAN  IMPROVEMENT  25 

ties  which  constitutes  virtue  and  happiness 21  . But  within  the 
last  fifty  years,  Constructiveness — located  still  farther  forward 
and  upward — has  ascended  the  throne,  and  is  now  ruling 
man  in  conjunction  with  Acquisitiveness,  of  which  modern 
mechanical  inventions,  manufactures,  and  the  like,  furnish 
examples. 

That  man  is  rapidly  progressing  is  equally  evinced  in 
those  successive  governmental  improvements  which  have 
taken  place.  Compare  our  own  government  and  institutions 
with  those  of  any  previous  epoch,  and  behold  the  change  for 
the  better.  Contrast  the  tyranny  of  the  kings  of  Babylon, 
Nineveh,  Egypt,  Tyre,  the  Caesars,  Nero,  and  even  ancient 
England — of  all  antiquity— with  the  far  greater  leniency  of 
all  modern  thrones,  and  especially  of  all  old  governments  with 
the  comparative  liberality  and  justice  of  the  last  and  infinitely 
the  best  government  on  earth,  and  the  improvement  of  gov- 
ernments is  no  longer  problematical. 

Similar  advances  have  been  made  in  religion.  How  sensual 
and  debased  the  religion  of  the  Egyptians,  Parthians,  and  the 
mythology  of  Greece  and  Rome.  A god  for  every  deprav- 
ed propensity  ; and  the  more  disgusting  the  god  the  more 
numerous  and  zealous  its  devotees,  of  which  the  numerous 
temples  and  thronged  courts  of  the  goddess  of  shameless  pub- 
lic prostitution  furnish  us  pertinent  examples.  Judaism,  with 
its  interdiction  of  idol  worship,  was  a great  advance  on  all 
previous  religions,  and  the  pure  and  peaceable  doctrines  of 
Jesus  Christ  on  the  Mosaic  dispensation. 

But  men,  as  a whole,  were  not  yet  prepared  to  appreciate 
these  heaven-born  and  heaven-tending  doctrines,  and  conse- 
quently perverted  them.  Yet  every  new  sect  of  professing 
Christians  has  made  more  or  less  advance  on  the  religion  of 
its  predecessors.  And  a mighty  reform  is  now  in  progress 
before  our  own  eyes,  and  a great  and  glorious  change  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  developed  as  time  progresses.  Nor 
is  the  end  yet. 

Bad  as  the  world  still  is,  it  has  been  much  worse.  Many 
as  are  the  evils  and  abuses  under  which  we  groan,  they  are 
greatly  diminishing,  compared  with  those  of  any  former  age. 

3 


20 


PROGRESSION  A LAW  OF  THINGS. 


Nor  are  the  kinds  of  existing  evil  anything  like  a3  grievous 
now  as  formerly.  The  burglaries,  drinking,  swindling,  and 
shark-like  rapacity  of  the  present  age,  bear  no  comparison 
with  the  robberies,  extortions,  murders,  and  warlike  courage 
of  feudal  times,  and  especially  of  barbarous  antiquity.  Who 
would  not  infinitely  rather  live  in  our  speculating,  money- 
grasping  age  than  in  former  ones  of  clannish  hatred  and  mur- 
der, or  knight-errant  foolery  and  carnage  ? Are  not  our  edu- 
cational facilities  annually  improving,  and  the  means  of  hu- 
man comfort,  and  even  luxury,  multiplying  apace  ? Let  me 
live  now  in  preference  to  any  former  age,  and,  for  personal 
enjoyment,  centuries  hence  rather  than  now.  Man  is  destined 
to  become  almost  infinitely  more  elevated  in  the  scale  of  in- 
tellectual and  moral  excellence  than  he  now  is.  This  pro- 
gressive law  which  has  brought  mankind  measurably  out  of 
the  ignorance,  superstition,  idolatry,  tyranny,  and  bloodshed  of 
past  ages,  will  go  on  to  make  them  terrestrial  angels,  and  to 
render  our  earth  a perfect  paradise.  Yes,  the  predicted  mil- 
lennium is  not  a fancy  sketch,  but  a prospective  reality,  and 
things  are  now  shaping  preparatory  to  its  dawn.  This  all- 
perfecting  principle  is  now  rapidly  ushering  it  in  ; nor  can  any- 
thing whatever  arrest  its  advent  or  long  postpone  its  blessed 
approach.  It  has  already  incalculably  diminished  sensuality 
in  all  its  forms,  especially  lust  and  cruelty.  It  is  fast  banish- 
ing war  and  all  its  bloody  horrors.  It  will  soon  “ beat  swords 
into  ploughshares  and  spears  into  pruning-hooks,”  demolish 
the  gallows,  and  convert  prisons  into  mansions  of  happiness. 
It  will  increase  knowledge  illimitablv,  and  diffuse  it  through- 
out the  whole  earth.  It  will  promote  health  by  teaching  and 
enforcing  its  laws,  till  “ no  one  shall  say  I am  sick,”  till  “ as 
the  days  of  a tree  shall  be  the  days  of  my  people,”  and  till  it 
banishes  sin  and  suffering,  augments  man’s  talents  and  capa- 
bilities for  enjoyment  a hundred-fold,  and  renders  him  as  per- 
fectly happy  as  it  s possible  for  his  nature  to  become  01 
endure  ! 

Is  tne  scientific  warrant  for  ail  this  incredulously  re- 
quired ? The  following  fundamental  truths  render  it  abso- 
lutely certain.  First,  this  universal  tendency  of  all  nature, 


HUMAN  IMPROVEMENT. 


27 


animate  and  inanimate,  to  perfection  ; and  shall  man  be  its 
only  exception  ? Shall  he  not  rather  constitute  its  highest 
subject — the  grand  dimax  of  this  all-pervading  principle  ? 
Secondly,  man’s  inventing  capabilities  are  perpetually  devis- 
ing inventions  without  end,  and  making  improvements  innum- 
erable, which  his  imitation  is  copying,  extending,  and  perpe- 
tuating inimitably.  If  he  invented  merely,  the  improvements 
made  by  every  individual  would  die  with  their  author ; or  if 
a copyist  merely,  he  would  have  no  new  discovery  to  copy; 
whereas  this  union  of  both  in  his  primitive  constitution,  com- 
pels him  to  progress  forever  in  machinery,  agriculture,  scien- 
tific discoveries,  and  every  conceivable  species  of  improvement. 
Thirdly,  an  effectual  and  all-pervading  hereditary  instrumen- 
tality is  perpetually  at  work  throughout  all  ages  and  nations, 
for  perfecting  mankind  physically,*  intellectually,  and  moral- 
ly .f  Fourthly,  the  past  history  of  our  race  shows  a continual 
diminution,  from  age  to  age,  of  propensity,  and  a progression 
onward  and  upward,  from  predominant  Amativeness,  through 
Philoprogenitiveness,  Combativeness,  Destructiveness,  Alimen- 
tiveness,  and  Secretiveness,  to  Acquisitiveness,  its  present 
governing  passion,  a recent  rapid  advancement  of  Construc- 
tiveness, and  a present  waking  up  of  Intellectuality.  Every 
succeeding  age  has  advanced  him  from  the  predominance  of 
Amativeness,  his  lowest  and  posterior  cerebral  organ,  up 
through  one  propensity  after  another,  each  higher  up  and  far- 
ther forward  than  its  predecessor,  to  Acquisitiveness,  the  last 
of  the  animal  group,  which  is  now  powerfully  exciting  both 
Constructiveness  and  Intellect.  Man  is  just  beginning  to 
think — is  just  learning  the  great  truth  that  laws  govern  all 
things,  and  commencing  to  investigate  and  apply  them,  so  as 
to  promote  virtue  and  happiness.  Nor  can  he  retrograde,  ex- 
cept temporarily.  He  is  now  under  the  reign  of  the  last  of 
the  propensities.  Backward  this  progressive  principle  will 
never  let  him  go.  His  next  step  will  dethrone  propensity,  and 
give  the  dominion  to  his  higher  faculties.  Then  shall  all 
know  the  Lord  from  the  least  even  unto  the  greatest ; every 

* **  Hereditary  Descent,”  conclusioi  t “ Love  and  Parentage,”  page  188. 


28 


PROGRESSION  A LAW  OP  THINGS. 


species  of  sin  and  suffering  be  done  away,  and  all  mankind 
rendered  perfectly  holy  and  happy  !* 

206.  INDIVIDUAL  PROGRESSION 

Is  equally  an  ordinance  of  nature.  Man  is  not  brought 
forth,  like  the  fabled  Minerva  from  the  brain  of  Jupiter,  in  the 
full  possession  of  every  physical  power  and  mental  faculty, 
but  a helpless  infant,  yet  grows  by  slow  but  sure  gradation  in 
strength  and  stature  to  ultimate  maturity.  Mind,  too,  is  gov- 
erned by  the  same  progressive  development,  from  idiotic 
infancy,  which  does  not  know  enough  to  feed  itself  or  keep 
out  of  the  fire,  up  through  all  the  mental  sprightliness  and 
memory  of  youth,  to  all  the  clearness  and  power  of  intel- 
lectual and  moral  maturity.  Youth  is  passionate,  age  delib- 
erative. The  pleasures  of  youth  are  trifles,  and  mainly 
appertain  to  animal  gratifications,  but  rise  with  age  to  objects 
higher  and  still  higher  through  life.  When  the  distinctive 
characteristics  of  manhood  or  womanhood  appear,  intellect 
proper  expands.  Thoughts  flow  more  abundantly,  ambition 
to  be  and  to  do  something  worthy  is  enkindled,  thirst  after 
information  increases,  a ad  every  succeeding  day  adds  to  know- 
ledge and  mental  capacity.  These  two  instrumentalities — 
our  being  obliged  to  learn  something  daily,  and  to  remember 
what  we  learn — literal' y compel  that  mental  progression, 
which  is  written  in  th(  very  constitution  of  mind.  Hence 
“old  men  for  counsel/ 

Happiness  being  the  summing  up  of  all  the  ordinances  of 
our  nature,  if  our  capabilities  of  enjoyment  are  constitu- 
tutionally  progressive,  of  course  we  improve  by  nature  in  all 
that  renders  life  desirable — in  “ the  chief  end  of  man.”  Our 
mental  and  all  our  other  powers  increase,  and  as  these  are 
but  the  “ raw  material  ” of  enjoyment,  why  should  not  the 
latter  proportionably  increase  ? Experience  also  greatly  fa- 
cilitates happiness  by  warning  us  to  avoid  causes  of  unhap- 

* Those  who  would  see  this  most  interesting  subject  carried  out  more 
fully,  can  do  so  by  referring  to  the  American  Phrenological  Journal,  edit- 
ed by  the  author,  in  a series  of  articles,  entitled  “ Progression  a Jaw  of 
Nature,”  etc.,  vols.  vii.,  yih  , and  ix. 


INDIVIDUAL  PROGRESSION. 


29 


piness,  and  constituting  a sure  guide  to  success  and  pleasure. 
This  great  teacher  of  the  most  valuable  lessons  of  life  is 
weak  in  childhood,  but  “ grows  with  our  growth.55  Shall  not, 
then,  the  happiness  it  confers  ? Our  knowledge,  another 
powerful  auxiliary  of  enjoyment,  also  augments  daily.  Why 
then  should  not  the  vast  range  of  pleasures  it  confers  ? As 
friendship  is  perpetually  enlarging  its  circle  and  strengthening 
its  ties  continually  from  childhood  to  old  age,  why  should  we 
not  become  more  and  more  happy  every  successive  friend  we 
make,  and  friendly  expression  reciprocate  ? 

About  our  twentieth  year  we  find  a partner  of  all  our 
pleasures,  a powerful  augmentation  of  all  the  joys  of  life  in 
a “ friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a brother.55  Love  opens 
the  seal  of  a new  and  incalculably  delightful  fountain  of  hap- 
piness, as  well  in  anticipation  as  fruition,  which  increases  as 
love  strengthens,  till  it  ripens  into  the  tenderest  emotions  and 
the  sweetest  pleasures  of  our  natures.  Though  the  course  of 
true  love  rarely  does  run  smoothly,  yet  it  always  might,  and 
though  marriage  often  diminishes  love  and  its  sweets,  yet  that 
its  constitutional  tendency  is  vastly  to  enhance  them,  has  been 
fully  established  in  “ Love  and  Parentage,55  the  causes  of 
this  decline  explained,  and  directions  given  for  becoming  more 
and  more  affectionate  and  happy  every  succeeding  day  of 
married  life.  The  “ honey-moon  55  barely  ushers  in  those 
hymeneal  pleasures  for  the  perpetual  augmentation  of  which 
through  life  nature  has  amply  provided.  Ask  any  who  have 
lived  in  affectionate  wedlock  forty  years,  whether  they  would 
exchange  a week  or  year  of  present  connubial  pleasure  with 
that  of  any  previous  week  since  they  first  loved,  and  learn  as 
well  as  heed,  in  their  prompt  negative,  the  great  practical 
truth  that  love  and  all  its  exalted  delights  are  governed  equally 
by  this  great  law  of  progression. 

Marriage  also  unseals  still  another  source  of  pleasure  in  the 
transports  of  parental  love.  Every  successive  heir  is  consti 
tutionally  adapted  to  increase  parental  endearments  and  do 
mestic  enjoyment.  When  it  does  not,  ours  is  the  fault,  no4 
nature’s.  “ But  its  death  often  renders  us  most  wretched.” 
It  need  not  die  34  36  27 . “ But  the  family  increases  our  cares 

V 


30 


PROGRESSION  A LAW  OF  THINGS. 


and  troubles/’  objects  one.  Does,  but  never  need  to.  Yet 
of  this,  in  “ Matrimony/5  Nature  has  also  ordained  the  in- 
crease of  property  and  the  comforts  of  life  with  years,  and  of 
course  all  the  pleasures  they  yield.  And  thus  of  honor,  self- 
reliance,  discretion,  manual  skill,  taste,  the  application  of  cau- 
sation, and,  indeed,  all  that  we  do,  know,  and  are. 

“ All  this,  and  much  more,  is  indeed  true  of  a comparison 
of  adolescence  with  maturity ; but  as  advanced  age  diminishes 
physical  and  mentah  action,  it  of  course  enfeebles  our  capabil- 
ities of  enjoyment,55  objects  another.  This  is  plausible,  but 
superficial.  “ Can  then  decrepit  old  age  enjoy  muscular  ex- 
ercise equally  with  sprightly  youth?55  It  relishes  quiet  better, 
and  what  it  does  do  tells  far  more  than  the  mettlesome,  ill- 
directed  exertions  of  the  young.  The  older  we  grow  the 
more  we  husband  our  steps  and  strength,  make  every  blow 
tell,  and  do  more  with  less  labor.  Healthy  old  age,  too,  is 
generally  sprightly.  “ But  appetite  certainly  diminishes,55 
says  another.  Is  it  not  a law  of  appetite  to  relish  favorite 
dishes  more  and  more,  the  more  we  indulge  in  them  ? “ At 

all  events,55  it  is  farther  objected,  “ youth  is  free  from  those 
pains  and  diseases  contracted  through  life,  to  which  age  is 
generally  subject.55  That  age  might  be  as  free  as  youth,  is 
fully  shown  in  “Physiology.55  “But  the  Bible  expressly  ascribes 
6 trouble  and  sorrow 5 to  those  who  exceed  seventy,55  rejoin 
its  believers.  Rather  says  it  is  so,  yet  not  that  it  is  their 
fated  destiny.  This  usually  is  the  case,  because  men  gen- 
erally violate  the  physical  and  mental  laws  through  life,  and 
must,  of  course,  abide  the  consequences  in  old  age ; yet 
neither  such  violations  nor  their  penalties  are  necessary.  Those 
who  become  more  and  more  diseased  do  so  because  they  vio- 
late the  physical  laws  more  and  more  as  they  grow  older, 
and  of  course  become  more  and  more  wretched  ; yet  we  speak 
of  those  who  through  life  fulfil  the  ordinances  of  their  nature, 
not  violate  nature’s  requisitions  and  thus  incur  her  penalties- — 
of  what  might  and  should  be,  instead  of  what  is. 

“ But  look  at  facts,55  objects  still  another.  “ See  how  much 
more  happy,  sportive,  and  gay,  childhood  and  youth  than  mid- 
dle and  old  age-  Ignorant  of  the  world’s  wickedness,  unre- 


INDIVIDUAL  PROGRESSION. 


31 


strained  by  its  customs,  unconscious  of  its  troubles,  yet  their 
morning  sun  always  does  go  into  a cloud  of  sorrow  or  a storm 
of  adversity.  Does  and  must  are  two  things.  Our  capabili- 
ties of  being  happy  increase  with  years,  why  then  should  not 
*>ur  happiness  ? It  would,  as  invariably  as  it  now  declines,  if 
men  only  knew  how  to  live.  Nature  has  done  her  part  to- 
ward rendering  us  all  more  and  still  more  happy  every  suc- 
ceeding year  and  day  of  life  from  birth  to  death,  and  he  who 
ioes  not  become  so,  does  not  live  up  to  his  glorious  privileges 
or  destiny ; nor  should  any  be  content  unless  they  do.  Yet 
those  who  still  reject  this  progressive  doctrine  are  quite  wel- 
come to  its  down-hill  converse,  and  their  own  consequent 
“ growth  in  misery”  instead  of  “ good.” 

But  this  doctrine  is  set  completely  at  rest,  and  all  caviling 
silenced,  by  that  constitutional  increase  of  the  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties  secured  by  age — their  predominance  being 
the  great  condition  of  all  enjoyment.  We  shall  soon  demon- 
strate the  principle,  that  the  ascendency  of  the  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties  over  the  propensities  constitutes  virtue  and 
happiness,  while  that  of  the  propensities  causes  sin  and  mis- 
ery 2U.  Now  children  and  youth  are  constitutionally  more 
animal  and  impulsive  than  matured  or  advanced  age.  Their 
passions  are  relatively  stronger,  and  intellectuals  and  morals 
weaker,  and  hence  their  enjoyments  less.  Intellectual  and 
moral  excellence  is  the  great  cause  and  condition  of  happi- 
ness, and  as  this  constitutionally  increases  with  age,  of  course 
that  happiness  which  it  always  and  necessarily  induces,  pro- 
portionably  increases.  Age  is  as  much  better  adapted  to  both 
reading  and  reflection— those  great  means  of  intellectual  ad- 
vancement— than  youth.  The  latter  is  too  restless  to  endure 
•he  confinement  requisite  for  reading  or  study,  while  age  seeks 
that  “ old  armed  chair,”  which  facilitates  both.  Healthy  old 
men  of  eighty,  who  have  cultivated  their  minds  through  life, 
and  can  get  books,  literally  feast  on  them.  Catechise  them 
on  this  point,  as  the  author  has,  and  learn  in  their  answer  how 
to  render  your  own  descent  to  the  grave  the  happiest  period 
of  life.  Listen  to  their  stores  of  anecdotes  and  information, 
and  heed  their  ripened  wisdom  and  sound  judgment,  and  you 


32 


PROGRESSION  A LAW  OF  THINGS. 


may  well  wish  to  be  like  them.  Even  up  to  the  last  day  of 
life,  nature  ordains  that  they  retain  these  transcendent  gifts. 

Age,  too,  when  nature  has  her  perfect  work,  constitutionally 
augments  moral  excellence 211 — that  crowning  feature  of  hu- 
manity— and  ripens  all  the  moral  virtues,  besides  facilitating 
the  control  of  the  passions — and  thus  secures,  by  a natural 
process,  that  very  ascendency  of  the  moral  faculties  which 
mainly  constitutes  happiness.  Moral  excellence  does  not  con- 
sist in  isolated  goodness,  but  in  a long  succession,  every  addi- 
tion to  which  augments  both  it  and  its  consequent  enjoyment. 
It  is  like  the  morning  light  which  grows  gradually  into  the 
perfect  day.  Hence  it  is  impossible  for  the  young  to  become 
as  good,  and  consequently  as  happy,  as  the  old.  Age  consti- 
tutionally purifies  the  moral  virtues  and  their  delights.  The 
young  Christian  may  be  more  fervent,  yet  cannot  be  as  holy. 
Though  he  may  evince  more  rapture,  yet  for  close  communion 
with  God,  and  desire  to  see  and  be  like  Him,  the  aged  saint 
;s  as  much  the  senior  as  in  years.  Age  loves  to  meditate  on 
“ heaven  and  heavenly  things,”  and  by  having  breathed  forth 
holy  longings  and  aspirations  for  so  many  successive  years, 
has  become  “ the  shock  of  corn  fully  ripe”  for  heaven,  and 
just  ready  to  be  gathered  into  its  anticipated  “ rest.”  Would 
ye,  who  have  so  long  panted  after  perfect  holiness,  return  to 
the  zeal  and  the  temptations  of  your  earlier  religious  life  ? On 
your  verdict  rests  this  the  ultimate  issue  of  our  glorious  doc- 
trine. Moral  excellence  being  the  great  instrumentality  of 
all  enjoyment, — which  age  constitutionally  augments  ; nature 
has  provided  that  we  become  better  and  better,  and  therefore, 
more  and  more  happy,  every  succeeding  day  of  life. 

Even  its  very  closing  is  its  happiest  period.  As  sunset  and 
evening  twilight  are  the  most  beautiful  portions  of  the  natural 
day,  so  departing  life  sheds  a holy  calm  and  sweetness  over 
the  soul  unknown  before,  and  as,  when  the  last  rays  of  day 
invite  that  rest  which  is  now  more  welcome  than  all  waking 
pleasures,  so  when  life  dies  away  by  slow  degrees,  it  welcomes 
nothing  equally  with  that  eternal  rest  which  awaits  the  chil- 
dren of  God.  Nature’s  thus  weaning  us  from  earth  preparatory 
to  our  leaving  it,  and  her  thus  ripening  us,  as  wo  approach 


INDIVIDUAL  PROGRESSION. 


33 


the  grave,  by  this  natural  decay  of  propensity  and  growth  of 
moral  feeling,  for  the  joys  of  heaven,  is  one  of  her  most 
beautiful  provisions.  Nor  is  even  death  itself,  when  occuring 
after  the  ordinance  of  nature,  that  grim,  horrid  monster  gen- 
erally represented,  but  a real  blessing,  even  the  crowning 
blessing  of  life,  not  merely  as  the  usher  of  heaven,  but  in  and 
of  itself,  as  we  shall  show  under  vitativeness. 

Man  was  then  ordained  by  nature  to  become  more  and 
more  happy  every  succeeding  year  and  day  of  life,  up  to  its 
very  close  ; and  this  life  itself  is  but  a preparation  for  an  order 
and  amount  of  happiness  infinitely  higher  than  our  limited 
faculties  can  conceive.  Behold  that  literally  infinite  scale 
of  progression  in  happiness  and  goodness  thus  placed  within 
our  reach  ! 

But  this  scale  descends  as  well  as  ascends.  We  can  de- 
teriorate as  well  as  improve,  and  become  more  and  still  more 
miserable,  instead  of  happy.  Indeed,  one  or  the  other  we 
must  become.  Stationary  we  can  never  remain,  in  this  matter, 
any  more  than  in  age.  Progress  we  must,  if  not  in  goodness 
and  happiness,  in  sinfulness  and  misery,  which,  depends 
mainly  on  our  own  selves.  And  how  many  grow  in  wretch- 
edness as  they  grow  in  age — so  many  that  nearly  all  think 
they,  too,  must  descend  in  this  mighty  current  with  the  mass ! 
Such  know  neither  their  glorious  privileges,  nor  how  to  secure 
them.  But  shall  we  thus  retrograde  and  suffer  ? “ God  for- 

bid.55 Shall  we  not  rather  strive  to  attain  the  highest  possible 
measure  of  perfection  and  happiness  ? Shall  the  pursuit  or 
possession  of  riches  drag  us  down  from  this  soaring  destiny 
of  our  natures  ? He  is  richest  who  is  most  happy1.  Or  shall 
anything  whatever?  No,  not  everything  combined!  We 
can  be  happy,  and  we  will.  This,  the  one  destiny  of  our 
being,  shall  become  the  paramount  employment  of  our  entire 
lives.  What  else  is  desirable  ? 

But  we  have  something  to  do.  Though  nature  has  created 
these  capabilities  of  perpetually  increasing  enjoyment,  yet  their 
productiveness  will  be  only  in  proportion  to  their  right  cultiva- 
tion. She  treats  us  as  voluntary,  not  as  passive  beings  ; and 
having  furnished  us  with  the  means  of  rendering  ourselves 


34 


CONDITIONS  OF  PERFECTION. 


happy,  leaves  us  to  use  or  neglect  them,  and  take  the  conse- 
quences. As  soil,  however  rich,  is  productive  in  proportion 
as  it  is  tilled,  so,  having  planted  the  seeds  of  enjoyment  in  the 
rich  soil  of  human  capability,  she  leaves  us  to  perfect  their 
fruit  by  culture,  or  to  choke  their  growth  by  sin,  and  embitter 
their  fruit  by  violated  law.  Ye  who  are  careless  of  happiness, 
idle  or  trifle  on ; but  let  us  who  would  render  ourselves,  by 
self-improvement,  what  God  has  capacitated  us  to  become, 
turn  from  vanities,  bury  no  talent,  but  redouble  all  while  we 
live,  and,  by  studying  and  improving  all  our  natural  gifts,  fit 
ourselves  for  that  high  and  holy  destiny  hereafter  secured  to 
such  by  this  great  principle  of  illimitable  progression  ! And 
to  this  end  let  us  proceed  to  investigate  its  conditions  that  we 
may  fulfil  them. 


SECTION  II. 

conditions  of  perfection  and  enjoyment. 

207.  THE  HARMONIOUS  ACTION  OF  ALL  THE  FACULTIES 

Constitutes  a fundamental  condition  alike  of  perfection  of 
character  and  happiness  of  life  ; whereas  contention  among 
the  faculties  is  both  destructive  of  all  enjoyment  and  the  cause 
of  intense  mental  agony.  A few  illustrations. 

During  the  revival  which  transpired  in  New  York  in  1842, 
a gay  and  volatile  young  lady  Decame  seriously  impressed, 
but  loved  the  pleasures  of  the  world  too  well  to  yield  to  her 
religious  convictions.  Yet  so  firmly  had  they  fastened  upon 
her,  that  her  resistance  only  increased  them.  This  state  of 
mind  lasted  several  weeks ; and  in  describing  the  feelings  con- 
sequent on  this  conflict  of  her  moral  with  her  worldly  facul- 
ties, she  expressed  herself  to  this  effect.  “ I could  never  have 
believed,  unless  I had  experienced  it,  what  extreme  agony  of 
mind  one  can  endure,  and  yet  live,’5 — all  because  her  facul- 
ties conflicted  with  each  other.  A young  woman  who  be- 
came thoroughly  enamored  of  a young  man,  whom  she  at  first 
supposed  every  way  worthy  of  her  confiding  and  tender  love, 


HARMONY  OF  ACTION. 


35 


tshen  finally  convinced  that  he  was  sensual,  depraved,  and 
every  way  unworthy  of  her,  could  not,  however,  cease  to  love 
him.  Her  high  moral  feelings  forbad  her  marrying  him,  yet 
her  social  affections  still  clung  to  him  with  all  the  yearnings 
of  a woman’s  first  and  only  love  ; and  this  contention  between 
misplaced  but  deep-rooted  affection  on  the  one  hand,  and  her 
high  intellectual  and  moral  faculties  on  the  other,  broke  down 
one  of  the  very  best  of  constitutions,  rendered  one  every  way 
capable  of  being  exquisitely  happy  in  the  domestic  relations 
most  wretched,  and  continued,  in  spite  of  long  separation,  the 
entreaties  and  remonstrances  of  friends,  and  in  opposition  to 
her  own  convictions  of  interest  and  duty,  till  it  made  a com- 
plete wreck  of  a truly  magnificent  woman.  This  internal 
warring  of  the  affections  with  the  other  faculties  is  like  pull- 
ing one  limb  one  way  and  another  the  other,  till  the  ligaments 
which  united  them  are  torn  asunder.  Many  female  readers 
have  doubtless  experienced,  in  their  own  souls,  the  indescriba- 
ble anguish  caused  by  this  clinging  of  their  affections  to  those 
who  were  repulsive  to  their  other  faculties ; and  how  many 
others  will  be  able  to  call  to  mind  pitiable  victims  of  the  phys- 
ical and  mental  disasters  consequent  on  this  internal  warfare. 
How  many  men,  likewise,  who,  while  deciding  whether  they 
should  crown  their  love  by  marriage,  have  had  their  pride 
wounded  by  being  required  to  demean  or  humble  themselves 
more  than  their  proud  spirits  would  bear,  yet  were  unable  to 
tear  their  gushing  affections  from  their  loved  one,  although 
rendered  most  miserable  by  this  contention  between  their  pride 
and  their  love. 

Let  any  young  man  who  loves  his  independence,  and  yet 
loves  money,  go  into  business  where  he  is  made  a menial, 
with  the  certain  prosnect  of  becoming  a partner  and  getting 
rich,  if  he  will  submit  for  a while  to  dictation.  He  wants  the 
place,  but  he  hates  the  service ; and  this  struggle  between 
liberty  and  interest  is  perfect  torment  to  his  troubled  soul. 
Have  not  many  readers  had  experience  in  this,  or  some  other 
kindred  illustration  ? 

Pardon  a personal  allusion.  A godly  clergyman  who 
preached  where  I was  brought  up,  and  to  whom  I looked  up 


36 


CONDITIONS  CiF  PERFECTION. 


as  a model  of  perfection,  was  rarely  ever  seen  to  smile,  and 
frequently  remarked  that  the  Saviour  was  often  known  to 
weep,  but  never  to  laugh.  From  this,  joined  with  a very 
rigid  religious  education,  I imbibed  the  notion  that  it  was 
wicked  to  laugh  or  joke.  Still,  Mirthfulness  would  out. 
Conscientiousness  would  then  upbraid  till  a promise  of  reform 
gave  a truce.  But  traitorous  Mirthfulness  often  broke  the 
armistice,  and  again  and  continually  embroiled  the  contend- 
ing armies  in  civil  war.  Year  after  year  did  this  internal 
warfare  go  on  without  cessation,  till  Phrenology  separated  the 
combatants,  and  restored  peace  by  telling  Conscientiousness 
that  it  was  not  wrong  to  laugh,  but  was  right,  because  Mirth- 
fulness is  a primitive  faculty  of  the  mind,  and  should  there- 
fore be  exercised,  besides  being  every  way  promotive  of  health 
and  enjoyment.  I have  suffered  from  a broken  limb,  and  have 
endured  a dislocated  joint,  and  suffered  much  from  other 
causes ; but  the  like  of  this  civil  war  I never  experienced  be- 
fore or  since.  And  all  from  this  warring  of  the  faculties. 
And  this  from  ignorance  and  superstition.  The  exercise  of 
every  primitive  fuculty  is  right,  is  necessary,  provided  it  be 
in  conjunction  with  all  the  others,  and  upon  its  legitimate 
object  208. 

A man  whose  Combativeness  is  subject  to  quick  and  power- 
ful excitement,  yet  whose  large  Conscientiousness  condemns 
him  therefor,  endures  more  than  the  pains  of  purgatory  by 
this  quarrelling  of  Conscientiousness  with  Combativeness.  Or 
perhaps  appetite  and  duty  quarrel — the  former  insisting  on 
eating  more  than  the  latter  will  allow — so  that  a guilty  con- 
science continually  upbraids  him  for  his  continual  violation 
of  what  he  knows  to  be  right.  Reader,  does  not  this  illustra- 
tion come  home  to  your  own  experience  ? Do  not  conscience 
and  appetite  struggle  for  victory,  each  at  the  same  time  in- 
flicting deep  wounds  .upon  the  other,  and  thus  lacerate  your 
guilty  soul  with  more  than  ten  thousand  stripes  ? Or,  per- 
haps thy  kindness  and  justice,  or  thy  justice  and  love  of  mo- 
ney, or  thy  devotion  and  propensities,  are  at  swords’  points, 
each  thrusting  daggers  through  thy  soul  more  dreadful  than 
death  itself,  or,  at  least,  sufficient  to  mar  all  the  pleasures  of 


CONCERT  OF  ACTION. 


37 


life  ? A house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  He  who 
condemns  himself  for  what  he  does,  or  any  of  whose  faculties 
act  in  opposition  to  each'  other,  is  thereby  rendered  inconceiv- 
ably wretched.  Well  has  the  Bible  said,  “ Happy  is  that 
man  wno  condemneth  himself  in  that  which  he  allowed,” 
and,  it  might  have  added,  miserable  those  who  do. 

Yet  happy  he,  whose  faculties  work  together  in  the  silken 
cords  of  harmony.  Happy  he  whose  conscience  approves  what 
his  appetite  craves,  and  thereby  sweetens  his  rich  repast — 
whose  love  of  family  and  of  money  each  redouble  the  energy 
and  augment  the  happiness  of  the  other ; whose  parental  feel- 
ings are  gratified  by  seeing  his  children  grow  up  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord,  and  walk  in  the  ways  of  wisdom  ; who  loves  the 
wife  of  his  bosom  without  alloy,  and  sees  no  blemish  in  her, 
but  every  perfection  to  heighten  the  action  and  the  pleasure 
of  all  his  other  faculties  ; whose  love  of  justice  and  of  money 
delight  to  acquire  it,  in  order  to  discharge  all  his  pecuniary 
obligations ; whose  hopes  and  fears  never  oscillate ; whose 
intellectual  convictions  of  truth  never  clash,  but  always  blend 
with  all  his  feelings  and  conduct ; whose  tastes  are  all  grati- 
fied by  his  occupation  and  associations ; whose  friends  have 
every  quality  he  likes,  and  none  which  mars  his  pleasure  in 
them ; in  short,  all  of  whose  faculties  move  on  in  harmonious 
concert  to  attain  one  common  end,  desired  by  all,  delightful 
to  all,  and  who  is  completely  at  peace  with  himself.  He  is 
happy.  His  cup  of  pleasure  is  full  to  its  brim,  unmingled 
with  a single  drop  of  bitterness  or  atom  of  pain.  He  is  holy. 
He  is  perfect.  May  every  reader  see  this  law,  apply  this  law, 
enjoy  this  law,  and  your  children  and  household  along  with 
you  ! 

Let  me  not,  however,  be  misunderstood.  I shall  elsewhere 
show  that  one  way,  and  that  the  most  effectual,  of  subduing 
dominant  propensities,  is  to  array  the  moral  sentiments  against 
them.  Whenever  they  become  perverted,  pitt  the  moral  senti- 
ments and  intellect  against  them  in  mortal  combat.  This  will  re- 
form them  if  they  can  be  reformed,  besides  being  the  severest 
punishment  mankind  can  possibly  endure.  Yet  this  clashing 
should  not  occur  except  as  a means  of  reform ; and  when  it 
4 


83 


CONDITIONS  OF  PERFECTION. 


does,  its  cause  should  be  ferreted  out  and  corrected.  When 
all  the  faculties  co-operate  in  harmony  with  their  legitimate 
functions,  none  of  this  clashing  can  occur ; and  when  it  does, 
let  the  guilty  sufferer — even  his  suffering  implies  that  he  is 
guilty — ferret  out  the  cause.  Let  him  see  which  faculty  has 
broken  from  its  normal  function,  or  whether  both  have  strayed 
from  the  fold  of  virtue,  and  restore  the  wanderer.  In  other 
words,  let  no  faculty  be  found  arrayed  against  the  legitimate 
function  of  any  others,  but  only  against  their  abnormal  or 
vicious  manifestation,  and  then  for  the  express  purpose  of 
affecting  reform. 

An  additional  advantage  derived  from  this  concert  of  ac- 
tion is  the  increased  power  imparted  to  all  the  faculties  by 
this  co-operation.  Thus,  when  Cautiousnessness  and  Com- 
bativeness oppose  each  other,  they  produce  that  mental  uncer- 
tainty, and  consequent  irresolution,  which  palsy  every  effort 
and  blast  success ; but  when  they  blend  together,  they  give 
that  energy  and  prudence  combined  which  render  success  well 
nigh  certain.  Let  Causality  lay  hold  of  the  same  measure, 
and  devise  a well-concerted  plan  for  this  combined  prudence  and 
energy  to  execute  ; let  Benevolence  draw  in  the  same  trace ; 
let  this  well-concerted  and  efficiently-executed  plan  seek  the 
happiness  of  mankind  ; let  Conscientiousness  sanction  it,  and 
urge  on  every  other  faculty  to  labor  for  its  accomplishment ; let 
Hope  cheer  them  on  with  bright  prospects  of  abundant  success; 
let  Language  and  all  the  other  faculties  contribute  their  re- 
sources, and  find  ample  employment  in  furthering  this  labor  of 
love ; let  Firmness  keep  them  stable  to  their  work,  and  prose- 
cute this  well-laid  scheme  till  it  is  completely  effected  ; let 
ambition,  piety,  and  all  other  powers  of  soul  and  body  combine 
together  to  carry  on  and  carry  out  the  noble  purpose,  and  each, 
besides  contributing  its  quota  of  help,  also  increases  the  action 
of  all  the  others.  Union  is  strength : division  is  weakness. 
How  vast  the  augmentation  of  power  derived  from  this  harmo- 
nious co-operation  of  all  the  faculties.  If  any  faculty  refuse 
to  come  up  to  the  work,  besides  the  absolute  loss  of  its  own 
power,  its  absence  weakens  the  hands  of  all  the  others.  This 
concert  is  like  concord  in  music,  while  conflict  is  double  dis- 


NORMALITY  OF  FUNCTION. 


39 


cord.  Frequently  a single  faculty  will  completely  nullify 
the  combined  efforts  of  all  the  others.  But  enough.  The 
principle  involved  is  clear,  is  forcible.  Let  every  mother 
apply  it.  Let  every  child  be  trained  in  view  of  it.  Espe- 
cially let  all  those  faculties  which  the  business  or  the  pleasure 
of  any  require  should  act  in  concert,  be  trained  accordingly, 
and  a vast  augmentation  of  success  and  happiness  will  be  the 
delightful  result. 


*208.  NORMALITY  OF  FUNCTION. 

Every  physical,  every  mental  function  of  man,  is  capable 
of  a two-fold  action,  the  one  natural  or  normal,  and  therefore 
pleasurable, — the  other  unnatural  or  abnormal,  and  therefore 
painful.  The  normal  action  of  the  various  physical  faculties 
constitutes  health,  and  bestows  its  pleasures  ; their  abnormal 
action  causes  disease  in  all  its  forms,  and  occasions  all  its  pains. 

Each  of  the  mental  faculties  is  equally  capable  of  this  dual 
action.  The  natural,  and  therefore  pleasurable,  exercise  or 
Conscientiousness  confers  that  happy  state  of  mind  conse- 
quent on  the  consciousness  of  having  done  right,  or  the  ap- 
probation of  a clear  conscience ; while  its  abnormal  or  pain- 
ful action  begets  the  upbraidings  and  compunctions  of  a guilty 
conscience,  or  the  goadings,  self-reproaches,  and  self-con- 
demnations occasioned  by  the  convictions  that  we  have  done 
wrong.  The  natural  or  primitive  function  of  Ideality  is  the 
pleasure  experienced  in  beholding  or  contemplating  the  beau- 
tiful in  nature,  art,  and  sentiment,  and  in  exercising  those  re- 
fined, elevating  feelings  which  this  faculty  inspires  ; while 
its  reversed  action  causes  those  painful  feelings  of  disgust 
and  loathsomeness  with  which  this  organ  regards  vulgarity 
and  grossness.  The  normal  function  of  Approbativeness  is 
that  delight  which  we  experience  when  commended  for  truly 
praiseworthy,  honorable  conduct,  while  its  abnormal,  or  re- 
versed action,  causes  that  feeling  of  mortification  and  shame 
which  we  experience  when  rebuked  for  what  we  know  to  be 
disgraceful.  The  normal  function  of  Adhesiveness  is  that  un- 
alloyed pleasure  taken  by  cordial,  sincere,  intimate  friends 
in  the  society  of  each  other,  but  its  reversed,  urnatural  funo- 


40 


CONDITIONS  CF  PERFECTION. 


tion  is  the  pain  felt,  the  lacerations  of  friendship  produced  by 
the  loss,  death,  removal,  or  separation  of  friends,  or  by  their 
traitorously  turning  enemies.  The  natural  function  of  Philo- 
progenitiveness gives  the  pleasure  parents  take  in  their  chil- 
dren, when  they  see  them  growing  up  healthy,  talented,  and 
good  ; while  their  sickness,  depravity,  or  wretchedness,  wound, 
pain,  reverse  this  faculty.  The  normal  function  of  Combat 
iveness  is  resistance,  resolution,  self-defence,  protection,  energy 
of  character ; 239  its  unnatural  or  vicious  action  is  anger, 
violence  of  temper,  irritability,  peevishness,  faultfinding,  and 
abusiveness.  The  natural  function  of  Alimentiveness  is  ap- 
petite for  those  kinds  of  food  best  calculated  to  sustain 
nature33,  and  improve  health;  its  sinful  exercise  is  gorman 
dizing,  gluttony,  sensuality,  intemperance,  tobacco  chewing; 
tea  and  coffee  hankering  and  drinking,  etc.  The  natural 
function  of  Causality  is  to  investigate  truth,  and  expose  error, 
as  well  as  to  adapt  lawful  means  to  the  attainment  of  proper 
ends ; its  perverted  function  consists  in  either  employing  wrong 
means,  or  effecting  wicked  ends,  or  reasoning  against  truth, 
or  in  defence  of  wrong,  that  is,  in  putting  this  power  to  an 
improper  use.  The  natural  function  of  Language  is  to  express 
correct  and  useful  ideas,  in  a proper  and  beautiful  manner ; 
its  perversion  consists  in  retailing  petty  slander,  or  using  it  to 
excite  improper,  injurious  feelings,  or  to  communicate  what 
will  do  harm.  Similar  remarks  will  apply  to  Mirthfulness, 
Individuality,  Time,  Calculation,  Secretiveness,  Acquisitive- 
ness, and  indeed  to  every  mental  power.  In  other  words,  every 
function  of  our  complicated  nature  takes  on  a natural  and 
therefore  pleasurable  action  whenever  the  laws  of  its  con- 
stitution are  fulfilled — whenever  it  is  rightly  applied  to  the 
promotion  of  the  end  to  secure  which  it  was  created  ; but  ex- 
periences a painful  action  whenever  exercised  out  of  the  pale 
of  its  primitive  constitution.  To  exercise  any  faculty  in 
harmony  with  its  primitive  function  renders  its  action  neces- 
sarily pleasurable  ; to  exercise  it  in  contrariety  therewith, 
always,  and  by  a law  of  things,  causes  pain.  And  one  of  the 
first  great  steps  to  be  taken  in  securing  that  improvement  and 
nappiness,  the  conditions  of  which  constitute  our  present 


CEREBRAL  DISEASE. 


41 


inquiry,  is  to  learn  and  fulfil  this  normal  function  of  all  our 
faculties.  Hence,  to  be  happy  is  not,  after  all,  so  very  diffi- 
cult provided  we  know  how,  and  this  work  will,  therefore, 
give  both  the  natural,  and  also  the  perverted,  or  painful,  or 
sinful — all  the  same — action  of  all  the  faculties — the  normal, 
under  the  head  of  adaptation,  and  the  other,  under  that  of 
perversion  or  abuse. 

It  deserves  more  specific  remark  that  this  normal  action  of 
the  various  faculties  constitutes  virtue,  and  their  abnormal  or 
perverted  action,  sin,  vice,  or  depravity ; so  that,  by  following 
their  natural  direction,  we  shall  avoid  sin  and  its  penalties, 
and  render  ourselves  virtuous,  and  therefore  happy, — a prin- 
ciple too  intrinsically  and  practically  important  to  be  thus  cur- 
sorily dismissed,  and  therefore  laid  over  for  re-consideration. 
Simple  as  it  is,  it  discloses  one  of  the  first  and  most  funda- 
mental conditions  of  morality  and  happiness,  as  well  as  causes 
of  sinfulness  and  suffering,  which  exists.  Let  all,  therefore, 
to  whom  pain  is  painful  and  enjoyment  desirable,  study  out 
this  normality  of  all  the  functions,  and  fulfil  it.  Nor  can  too 
much  pains  be  taken  to  give  the  faculties  of  children  this 
natural  action,  or,  rather,  to  retain  that  normal  action  which 
unperverted  nature  imparts  at  first,  and  does  so  much  to 
perpetuate. 

209.  CEREBRAL  DISEASE  AS  CAUSING  DEPRAVITY. 

This  abnormal  or  depraved  action  of  the  faculties  is  caused, 
among  other  things,  by  disease  of  brain  and  nerve ; and  such 
disease  always  produces  their  abnormal,  and  therefore  more 
or  less  painful  and  depraved  manifestation.  By  a law  ot 
things,  sickly  organs  can  never  produce  healthy  functions, 
nor  healthy  organs  sickly  functions.  As  is  the  state  of  any 
organ  at  the  time  it  executes  its  function,  so  will  be  that  func- 
tion. As  like  parents  like  children,  so  like  organs  like  func- 
tions. Can  a diseased  heart  execute  a healthy  function,  or  a 
healthy  heart  disease  of  function  ? Does  not  stomatic  disease 
necessarily  disorder  the  digestive  process — and  its  inflamma- 
tion or  debility  inflame  or  debilitate  its  product  ? Can  a dis- 
eased liver  possibly  produce  healthy  bile,  or  a healthy  liver 


42 


CONDITIONS  OF  PERCEPTION. 


disordered  bile  ? Or  diseased  eyes  correct  vision  ? Or  in- 
flamed  nerves  normal  or  pleasurable  sensations  ? 156  This  law 
pervades  hearing,  taste,  smell,  intellect,  morals,  and  every 
other  organ  and  function  of  body  and  mind.  All  sickness 
consists  simply,  solely,  in  functional  derangement  caused  by 
organic  disease,  and  all  remedial  efforts  pre-suppose  that  organ- 
ic restoration  secures  functional  health.  As  a corrupt  stream 
cannot  send  forth  clear  water,  so  a diseased  brain  must  produce 
an  abnormal,  painful,  depraved  function.  This  is  the  necessary 
consequence  of  that  fixed  relation  which  exists  between  all  or- 
gans and  their  functions.  The  intimacy  which  exists  between 
them  was  demonstrated  in  Physiology  to  be  perfect 15  16  17.  The 
perfection  of  this  reciprocity  is  what  constitutes  an  organ  an  or- 
gan. How  is  it  possible  to  disorder  the  brain  without  similarly 
deranging  the  mentality  ? The  diseased,  that  is,  the  abnormal 
condition  of  the  brain,  must  produce  a similarly  diseased  or 
abnormal  action  of  the  mental  functions.  And  what  is  ab- 
normal mental  action  but  a departure  from  the  natural  or  con- 
stitutional, and  therefore  right  action  ? The  natural  or  nor- 
mal function  alone  is  right,  is  virtuous,  is  happy ; all  depar 
tures  therefrom  are  sinful  208. 

If  this  new  doctrine  require  proof  it  has  it  in  the  fact  that 
all  normal  action  is  necessarily  pleasurable  because  it  fulfils 
law  1 6,  whereas  all  abnormal  action  is  therefore  painful,  be- 
cause it  violates  law  6 7.  The  simple  fact  that  normal  action, 
physical  and  mental,  causes  happiness,  and  abnormal  action 
misery,  is  proof  absolute  that  all  abnormal  action  is  sinful — 
for  how  can  there  be  suffering  except  in  consequence  of  sin  ? — 
and  by  converse,  that  all  normal  action  is  virtuous  because  it 
is  pleasurable — for  how  can  happiness  be  secured  except  by 
fulfilled  law  ? All  cerebral  disease  violates  the  laws  of  mind, 
and  breaks  the  moral  and  well  as  physical  laws ; and  this  is 
sinful.  All  normal  exercise  of  mind  is  virtuous,  because  it 
fulfils  the  laws  of  mind,  and  therefore  occasions  happiness. 
But  all  abnormal  action  of  mind  violates  its  laws,  and  this  oc- 
casions pain 6 7,  and  is  of  course  sinful.  Now  all  diseased 
action  is  painful,  and,  by  consequence,  sinful ; for  how  can 
pain  exist  unless  caused  by  violated  law,  and  what  is  such 


CEREBRAL  DISEASE. 


43 


violation  but  sin  ? The  fact  that  anything  is  painful,  proves 
ihat  it  is  sinful 6 7.  Since,  then,  cerebral  and  nervous  disease  is 
painful  155  156  156,  therefore  it  causes  sin.  The  fact  is,  mind  is  as 
capable  of  being  sick  as  body,  and  this  mental  sickness  is  sin. 
That  is,  the  mental  functions  performed  by  diseased  brain  are 
diseased,  that  is,  depart  from  nature’s  institutes,  and  such  depart- 
ure constitutes  depravity.  Other  things  also  occasion  depravity, 
yet  so  does  this.  The  idea  may  be  new,  yet  is  true,  that  Appro- 
bativeness,  Combativeness,  Appetite,  Acquisitiveness,  and  even 
Devotion,  Conscientiousness,  Hope,  Reason — all  the  mental  fa- 
culties— are  capable  of  becoming  sick,  as  much  so  as  the  stom- 
ach, liver,  lungs,  eyes,  or  any  of  the  other  organs,  and  when 
sick,  their  products  are  depraved,  sinful.  Not  that  all  sin  and 
consequent  misery  has  this  physical  origin,  but  that  much  of  it 
nas  is  a matter  of  observation  and  experience.  Do  not  chil- 
dren become  ill-natured,  that  is,  depraved,  in  proportion  as  they 
are  unwell,  and  more  sweet  and  good  when  perfectly  healthy  ? 
Much  of  the  wickedness  of  mankind  is  on  a par  with  insanity. 
It  is  the  offspring  of  physical  disease.  It  is  caused  by  the 
sickness  of  the  organs  of  the  erring  faculties,  not  by  deprav- 
ity of  purpose. 

Those,  therefore,  whose  propensities  clamor  for  unlawful 
gratification,  may  find  the  cause  in  cerebral  or  nervous  in- 
flammation, which  must  be  restored  before  normal  and  virtu 
ous  action  can  take  the  place  of  the  erring  propensity.  Will 
may  aid  such  restoration,  yet  the  cause — disease — must  be 
obviated  before  the  evil  can  be  removed.  In  short,  all  who 
would  improve  their  intellects  and  morals  must  begin  by  keep- 
ing their  brains  and  bodies  in  a healthy  and  vigorous  state. 
But  the  full  power  and  importance  of  this  principle  will  be 
still  fartJ  er  established  and  enforced  by — 


44 


THE  PROPEZS SITIES  AS  AFFECTED  BY 


SECTION  III. 

THE  INTER-RELATION  EXISTING  BETWEEN  THE  BODY  AND 
THE  PROPENSITIES. 

210.  EXISTENCE  OF  THIS  RECIPROCITY  OF  CONDITION 

Though  the  reciprocal  inter-relation  of  the  brain  as  a whole 
to  the  whole  mind,  and  also  between  the  various  states  of 
brain  and  mind,  that  is,  between  body  and  mind,  has  already 
been  shown  to  be  complete  14  15  16  17  18  155  156,  yet  this  recipro- 
city of  condition  is  more  especially  intimate  between  the 
body  and  the  base  of  the  brain,  and  of  course  between  all 
the  various  conditions  of  the  body  and  the  propensities — a 
principle  which  Phrenology  first  disclosed,  and  which  lies  at 
the  very  threshhold  of  all  self-improvement,  all  human  reform, 
and  all  educational  efforts.  Though  all  physical  irritation 
preternaturally  excites  the  brain,  and  of  course  the  mind  16, 
and  all  bodily  debility  enfeebles  brain  and  mind,  yet  these 
and  all  other  kindred  influences  of  the  physiology  upon  the 
mentality,  affect  the  base  of  the  brain  and  the  animal  pro- 
pensities much  more,  relatively,  than  the  higher  organs  and 
faculties. 

Anatomy  demonstrates  this  law.  All  those  nerves  already  ' 
shown  to  connect  the  body  with  the  brain  150  155  156,  originate  in 
its  base,  none  in  its  coronal  region,  as  seen  in  engraving 
No.  19  of  “ Physiology”  15°,  and  also  in  the  accompanying  one 
of  the  structure  of  the  brain  and  nervous  system.  This  ana- 
tomical fact  alone  completely  establishes  this  principle. 

The  functions  of  the  animal  organs  still  moie  fully  estab- 
lishes this  law.  To  serve  the  body,  and  execute  the  animal 
functions  of  our  nature,  is  their  exclusive  office.  Alimen- 
tiveness  feeds  the  body,  Acquisitiveness  stores  up  food,  cloth- 
ing, property,  and,  with  Constructiveness,  builds  houses  and 
provides  other  means  of  physical  comfort.  Combativeness  and 
Destructiveness  defend  and  protect  the  body  first,  and  especial- 
ly life,  while  Amativeness,  parental  love,  and  all  the  othex 


THE  STATES  OF  THE  BODY. 


45 


organs  in  the  base  of  the  brain,  have 
special  reference  to  the  functions  and 
demands  of  our  animal  nature.  Hence 
they  are  appropriately  located  close  to 
the  body  which  they  serve,  and  whose 
wants  they  supply,  so  that  the  inter-com- 
munication between  the  two  may  be  as 
direct  as  possible,  and  be  facilitated  by 
their  juxtaposition — a principle  else- 
where explained.  Hence  also,  the  con- 
ditions of  each  exert  a more  direct  and 
powerful  influence  upon  the  other,  than 
the  body  exerts  upon  the  moral  senti- 
ments, or  the  moral  sentiments  upon  the 
body.  The  moral  organs — those  of  the 
higher,  religious,  god-like  sentiments, 
and  also  the  reasoning  elements,  occupy 
the  upper  portion  of  the  head,  as  far  re- 
moved as  possible  from  the  body,  so  as 
to  be  disturbed  as  little  as  possible  by 
its  morbid  excitement. 

Facts,  not  isolated,  but  in  ranges  and 
classes,  in  which  one  fact  represents 
millions,  also  place  this  law  beyond 
all  cavil  and  doubt.  Thus,  why  do 
not  colds  and  fevers  enhance  bene- 
volence, devotion,  justice,  and  goodness,  and  render  us  holy 
and  heavenly-minded  ? Why  do  they  actually  enfeeble  these 
higher  elements  while  they  greatly  enhance  the  propensities  ? 
Why  does  being  unwell,  that  is,  bodily  irritability,  render  all 
children  so  cross  and  peevish,  that  they  fret  at  every  little 
thing  ? Do  and  forbear  as  much  as  yo*u  will,  nothing  pleases 
but  everything  irritates.  But  restore  them,  and  how  cheer- 
ful, happy,  and  good-dispositioned  you  render  them.  Hence 
many  children  are  ill-natured  because  unwell,  and  yet  pun- 
ished because  cross ; that  is,  are  punished  in  consequence  of 
their  being  sick.  Rather  punish  their  mothers  or  nurses  for  not 
rendering  them  good  by  keeping  them  well.  Sickly  children, 


46 


RELATION  BETWEEN  THE  BODY 


however  good-dispositioned  by  nature,  are  necessarily  irritable, 
and  by  far  the  most  effectual  means  of  rendering  them  sweet- 
dispositioned,  is  to  keep  them  in  excellent  health. 

But  let  them  become  so  very  sick  as  to  prostrate  instead  of 
inflame  their  bodies,  an<^  their  passions  are  prostrated  more, 
relatively,  than  their  higher  faculties.  Obedient,  sweet-ais- 
positioned,  they  submit  to  their  fate  with  almost  angelic  re- 
conciliation ; and  if  they  die,  mark  that  benignant,  almost  an- 
gelic expression  stamped  on  their  countenances  by  the  moral 
sentiments,  which,  dying  last  in  accordance  with  our  law,  be- 
cause less  effected  by  bodily  disease,  leave  their  benign  im- 
press, whereas,  if  the  propensities  were  last  to  die,  they  would 
leave  their  animal  impress  on  the  expression.  If  both  classes 
of  faculties  were  equally  affected  by  the  states  of  the  body,  both 
would  become  irritated  and  debilitated  and  also  die  simulta- 
neously, whereas  the  moral  elements  die  last,  because  less  in- 
timately inter-related  with  the  body. 

But  let  them  not  quite  die,  and  what  is  the  first  sign  of  re- 
turning health  ? A mad  snarl,  reviving  appetite,  re-irritated 
propensities,  so  much  so  as  to  cause  the  speak- word  “ O,  you 
are  better,  because  you  are  getting  cross — the  best  sign  of  it 
in  the  world.”  Why  does  dyspepsia  render  its  unhappy  vic- 
tims fault-finding,  irritable,  and  peevish  I68.  Why  do  disor- 
dered nerves  excite  mainly  the  bad  passions,  and  render  even 
the  amiable  fretful?156  Why  are  the  sick  generally  so  ill- 
natured,  ungrateful,  unreasonable  in  their  anger,  and  cross- 
grained  throughout  ? Why  do  not  diseases  promote  kindness, 
forbearance,  talents,  and  practical  goodness  ? Because  the 
irritated  state  of  their  bodies,  and  consequently  of  their  ani- 
mal nature,  caused  by  physical  disease,  affects  the  base  of  the 
brain  more,  relatively,  than  the  top. 

The  mode  in  which  death  transpires,  also,  corresponds  per- 
fectly with  this  principle.  The  extremities  die  first ; sensa- 
tion and  nervous  energy  rapidly  decrease  ; the  animal  passions 
follow  in  quick  succession  ; and  connubial  and  parental  love, 
appetite,  anger,  revenge,  love  of  the  world,  etc.,  are  all  dead- 
ened before  the  moral  or  intellectual  faculties  become  stupe- 
fied. Love  of  life,  also  an  animal  organ,  situated  in  the 


AND  THE  PROPENSITIES. 


47 


lowest  part  of  the  base  of  the  brain,  lets  go  its  hold  on  life 
before  the  moral  faculties  give  up,  and  hence  the  dying  man 
is  willing  to  depart,  because  his  love  of  life  and  of  sensual 
joys  has  been  subdued  by  the  grim  messenger  before  his 
higher  faculties  are  prostrated.*  Dying  persons  often  attempt 
to  speak,  but  cannot,  because  the  organs  of  Language  and 
Memory,  situated  low  down  in  the  forehead,  near  the  body, 
fall  before  the  approach  of  death  sooner  than  the  still  opera- 
ting organs  of  reason,  which  are  situated  higher  up.  Every 
one  must  have  noticed  that  the  dying  bid  the  last  earthly  adieu 
to  their  friends,  and  even  to  their  companions  and  children, 
whom,  through  life,  they  have  loved  most  enthusiastically, 
with  as  much  coolness  and  indifference  as  if  they  were  to  be 
gone  but  a day,  and  yet  their  still  vigorous  intellect  gives  wise 
directions  as  to  their  future  conduct.  Those  who  die  in  the 
triumphs  of  faith,  that  is,  in  the  vigorous  exercise  of  the  moral 
faculties  after  the  death  of  their  animal  nature,  also  practically 
illustrate  this  law,  as  do  those  who  die  in  the  reversed  or 
painful  action  of  these  organs.  After  presenting  this  prin- 
ciple in  a lecture  at  Smithville,  New  York,  an  elderly  deacon 
stated  that  he  had  experienced  its  truth  in  his  own  person. 
He  said  that  he  had  been  once  so  very  sick  that  he  and  all  his 
friends  expected  every  breath  to  be  his  last ; yet  that  he  had 
no  desire  to  live,  and  no  regard  for  his  wife  and  children, 
although,  both  before  and  since,  they  were  particularly  strong  ; 
nor  the  least  ill-will  against  any  one,  though  before  he  had 
felt  hard  toward  several ; no  regard  at  all  for  property,  and 
not  a worldly  feeling  left,  although  in  the  entire  possession  of 
his  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  and  perfectly  conscious 
of  everything  that  occurred.  He  was  also  able  to  reason 

* How  beautiful  this  principle,  how  wise  this  provision,  merely  as  a 
means  of  rendering  death  less  painful  than  otherwise  it  would  be ! If 
we  died  during  the  full  vigor  of  love  of  life,  property,  family,  ambition,  and 
other  worldly  desires,  how  much  harder  would  it  be  to  be  torn  forcibly 
from  them  than  after  the  weakening  of  the  body  has  deadened  our  love 
of  life,  unclasped  our  hold  on  wealth,  palsied  connubial  and  parental  love, 
and  destroyed  nearly  all  our  earthly  desires  ? This  principle  will  render 
dying  less  painful  than  the  living  suppose,  especially  to  those  who  die  a 
natural  death,  that  is,  by  the  gradual  wearing  out  of  the  body236. 


48 


RELATION  BETWEEN  THE  BODY 


and  think,  though  unable  to  speak.  On  the  return  of  health, 
his  domestic  and  other  animal  feelings  returned.  He  said  it 
had  always  been  a matter  of  surprise  to  him  that,  just  as  he 
was,  to  all  appearances,  about  to  bid  a final  adieu  to  his  fam- 
ily, whom  he  dearly  loved,  he  should  have  regarded  them 
with  such  perfect  indifference,  and  yet  that  both  before  and 
after  his  sickness  he  should  have  loved  them  so  devotedly. 

Dr.  Vanderburgh,  of  New  York,  relates  the  following.  A 
patient  had  taken,  by  mistake,  a preparation  of  potash,  which 
gradually,  in  about  eighteen  months,  terminated  his  life, 
it  first  neutralized  his  love  of  his  wife  and  child,  before  very 
enthusiastic ; his  anger,  before  ungovernable,  next  fell  a prey 
to  its  ravages,  and  his  ambition  next ; while  his  still  vigorous 
intellect  noted,  and  often  commented  on,  this  gradual  decay  of 
his  animal  nature — all  in  perfect  accordance  with  this  law. 

The  proverb,  “ old  men  for  counsel,  young  men  for  action,” 
embodies  this  same  principle.  “ Action  ” and  force  of  char- 
acter are  given  by  the  vigorous  exercise  of  the  animal  propen- 
sities, which  are  stronger  in  young  persons  than  in  old,  only 
because  their  bodies  are  more  vigorous.  During  childhood 
and  youth,  while  the  body  is  vigorous,  the  propensities  and 
perceptive  organs  are  extraordinarily  active,  but  the  higher 
sentiments  less  so ; in  middle  life,  the  passions  and  intellect 
are  both  powerful ; but  the  talents  attain  their  maximum  of 
power  after  age  begins  to  enfeeble  the  body  206.  Milton  com- 
menced his  “ Paradise  Lost  ” after  he  was  fifty-seven  years 
old,  and  decrepit  and  enfeebled  by  age.  The  most  splendid 
intellectual  efforts  ever  put  forth,  have  been  made  by  men  in 
the  decline  of  life.  In  harmony  with  this  principle  it  is,  that 
many  young  men,  who,  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  thirty, 
were  wild,  dissipated,  and  given  to  animal  indulgence,  after 
thirty  become  excellent  members  of  society.  Probably  most 
leaders  can  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that,  as  age  advances, 
the  energy  of  their  propensities  declines,  while  while  that  of 
their  intellectual  and  moral  powers  increases.  Observe  your 
tastes,  the  tone  and  cast  of  your  intellects,  your  likes,  studies, 
and  all  those  mental  operations  which  furnish  a test  of  this  law, 
arN  you  will  doubtless  perceive  a permanent  sugmentatioB 


AND  THE  PROPENSITIES. 


49 


of  the  power  of  your  intellectual  and  moral  elements,  and  de- 
cline of  your  propensities. 

This  principle  is  still  farther  established  by  one  great  law 
of  both  Physiology  and  Phrenology.  At  first  the  base  of  the 
brain  is  alone  developed.  In  infants,  but  little  brain  is  found 
in  the  top  head,  while  the  basilar  region,  and  especially  the 
occiput,  is  much  larger,  relatively,  than  in  adults.  As  youth 
progresses,  or,  rather,  as  the  brain  grows,  it  expands,  not  pro- 
portionably  in  all  its  parts,  but  forward  and  upward — in  the 
moral  and  intellectual  region,  more,  relatively,  than  in  the 
basilar — and  this  change  goes  on  till  the  body  is  fully  matured, 
and  begins  to  decline,  when  the  propensities  become  enfeebled, 
yet  the  intellect  is  augmented  in  power ; love  of  reading 
increases  ; the  thinking  powers  branch  out  into  new  regions  of 
thought;  the  judgment  becomes  more  sound;  and  the  higher 
elements  of  our  nature  ripen  up  to  their  full  maturity  and 
power203.  How  beautifully,  also,  does  this  principle  explain 
the  fact  that  old  men  are  more  cautious  than  when  young. 
The  organs  of  Cautiousness  and  Causality  are  located  higher 
up  than  the  propensities,  and  therefore  age  weakening  the 
latter,  yet  augments  the  former,  and  increases  prudence,  pro- 
tection, provision  for  the  future,  and  the  like,  but  diminishes 
recklessness. 

Sometimes  age  increases  irritability,  selfishness,  and  all  the 
animal  passions ; but  this  is  the  case  only  when  the  body  is  in 
an  inflamed  condition,  the  physiology  morbidly  active,  and  of 
course  the  propensities  likewise  preternaturally  excited. 

So  also  the  memories  of  children  and  youth  are  astonishingly 
retentive  and  vigorous,  while  those  of  aged  persons  usually  be- 
come enfeebled  ; but  the  judgment  of  the  latter  grows  strong, 
while  that  of  the  former  declines ; because  the  organs  of  mem- 
ory, being  in  the  base  of  the  forehead,  are  vigorous  when  the 
body  is  vigorous,  and  become  enfeebled  by  age ; but,  those  of 
the  judgment  are  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  forehead,  and 
therefore  partake  less  of  the  weakened  state  of  the  body.  A 
severe  fit  of  sickness,  when  it  leaves  the  body  in  an  enfeebled 
state,  is  sure  to  weaken  most  kinds  of  memory,  while  it  seldom 
impairs  the  'udgment.  Not  long  since,  a Mexican  called  to 
5 


50 


RELATION  BETWEEN  THE  BODY 


deliver  a letter  from  a friend  in  Mexico.  In  conversing  on 
Phrenology,  he  wished  to  recall  the  name  of  an  old  schoolmate 
and  friend  of  his,  who  is  an  arden*  student  of  Phrenology, 
and  physician  to  the  present  king  of  F ranee,  but  was  unable 
to  do  so,  though  perfectly  familiar  with  it.  For  fifteen  minutes 
he  labored  to  recall  it,  but  failed^and  then  said,  that  “ since 
his  suffocation  by  the  burning  of  charcoal  in  his  sleeping-room, 
which  came  near  killing  him,  he  had  been  unable  to  remember 
names.5’  This,  of  course,  weakened  his  body,  and,  by  the 
action  of  this  principle,  also  his  memory,  but  not  his  judgment. 
Probably  half  of  my  readers  have  had  their  memories  enfeebled 
by  sickness ; and  scores  of  cases  could  be  narrated  in  which 
improved  health  has  strengthened  memory.  Were  I to  give 
a recipe  for  improving  this  power,  its  first  and  most  important, 
item  would  be,  “ improve  the  tone  and  vigor  of  the  body.55 

Again  : hunger  causes  anger  and  peevishness.  Wives  and 
daughters  will  bear  me  witness,  that  when  their  husbands  and 
fathers  come  home  hungry,  they  are  cross,  irritable,  and  dis- 
pleased with  everybody  and  everything,  till  a hearty  meal 
restores  them  again  to  a pleasant  humor.  If  you  wish  to  breaK 
unpleasant  news  to  a man  without  offending  him,  or  to  obtain 
a special  favor,  approach  him  after  dinner  has  thrown  his 
body,  and  thereby  his  propensities,  into  a comfortable  state. 
Those  in  England  who  solicit  donations  for  charitable  objects, 
never  once  think  of  applying  to  the  rich  or  great  till  after  din- 
ner. When  well  fed,  ferocious  animals  are  tame  and  harm- 
less, but  when  hungry,  their  ferocity  becomes  ungovernable, 
and  their  Destructiveness  lashed  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of  fury. 
So  the  ferocious  Indian,  when  he  wishes  to  kindle  his  thirst 
for  war  and  blood  to  the  very  climax  of  rage  and  revenge, 
fasts  a week.  Why  should  the  irritated  state  of  the  stomach, 
and  thereby  of  the  body  in  general,  excite  to  morbid  action 
the  animal  propensities  mainly  ? Why  does  not  hunger  in- 
crease the  flow  of  kind,  of  conscientious,  and  of  devotional 
feeling,  instead  of  anger,  revenge,  and  ferocity  ? This  prin- 
ciple contains  the  answer. 

The  laboring  classes,  contrasted  with  those  who  are  above 
work,  furnish  another  striking  illustration  of  this  principle. 


ANE  THE  PROPENSITIES. 


51 


The  former  are  far  more  virtuous,  sensible,  and  intelligent 
than  the  latter.  Laborers  rarely  commit  robbery,  theft,  coun- 
terfeit, assault  and  battery,  murder,  or  other  glaring  crimes, 
unless  intoxicated ; while  most  of  our  pickpockets,  debauchees, 
prison-birds,  etc.,  disdain  to  work.  “ Idleness  is  the  parent  of 
vice,55  while  labor  is  a great  cause  of  moral  purity.  The 
leason  is,  that  labor  consumes  those  energies  created  by  food, 
breath,  etc.,  which  must  be  expended  on  something,  in  mus- 
cular action  ; but  when  this  door  of  escape  is  closed  by  fashion- 
able idleness,  its  next  egress  is  through — not  the  sentiments 
or  intellect,  for  idleness  never  makes  men  better  or  more 
talented — but  through  the  propensities.  Consequently,  vice 
is  vastly  more  prevalent  and  aggravated  in  the  upper  circles 
of  society  than  among  the  industrious.  Hence,  since  virtue 
is  above  wealth,  and  since  the  industrial  classes  are  more  vir- 
tuous and  talented  than  the  “ higher,”  of  course  the  “ upper 
tens57  are  at  the  bottom  in  the  scale  of  true  worth ; and  there 
let  our  practical  estimation  place  them.  Those  who  live  with- 
out some  useful  occupation  should  be  despised,  not  honored. 
The  industrious  are  nature’s  aristocracy. 

The  influence  of  alcoholic  drinks  furnish  another  conclu- 
sive proof,  and  forcible  as  well  as  varied  illustration  of  the  law 
under  discussion.  Their  one  distinctive  effect  is  to  excite  the 
brain  and  nervous  system.  Hence,  if  the  body  be  more  inti- 
mately related  to  the  base  of  the  brain  than  to  the  coronal 
region,  these  drinks  will  of  course  stimulate  the  propensi- 
ties more,  relatively,  than  the  moral  and  reasoning  organs ; 
otherwise  they  will  excite  all  equally.  What,  then,  is  the 
fact  ? 

That  they  powerfully  excite  Amativeness — located  at  the 
lowest  point  in  the  base  of  the  brain — is  attested  by  the  fact 
that  they  always  enhance  sensuality.  The  vulgarity  and 
licentiousness  they  occasion  are  proverbial.  Do  they  not  in- 
cline all  drinking  parties  to  indecent  allusions,  the  narration 
of  obscene  stories,  and  the  singing  of  lewd  songs,  if  not  to  carnal 
indulgence  itself!  The  introduction  of  wine  after  dinner  ad- 
monishes modest  woman  to  retire,  because  she  knows  hei 
delicacy  is  liable  to  be  shocked  if  she  remain. 


52 


PHYSICAL  DISEASE 


Wine  or  ardent  spirit  of  some  kind  is  indispensable  to  any 
and  every  debauch.  Why  do  abandoned  females  always 
drink  to  intoxication  ? This  principle  answers,  Because 
these  drinks  drown  the  voice  of  conscience,  blunt  modesty,  stifle 
the  claims  of  morality,  intellect,  and  virtue,  and  whirl  their 
guilty  victims  on  in  their  sensual  career  of  merely  animal  in- 
dulgence.  Men  and  women,  be  they  ever  so  moral  and  vir- 
tuous,  under  the  influence  of  intoxicating  drinks,  are  not  safe. 
Before  the  first  advantage  can  be  taken  of  a virtuous  woman, 
without  force,  she  must  be  partly  intoxicated  ; and  intoxication 
will  render  most  females  unchaste  in  feeling,  if  not  in  ac- 
tion. And  if  this  be  true  of  virtuous  woman,  what  is  the  fact 
of  less  virtuous  man  ? How  can  a woman  of  delicate  feelings 
tend  bar,  go  to  balls  or  parties  where  wine  or  spirits  are  freely 
drank,  or  consent  to  be  for  a moment  in  the  company  of  men 
who  are  surcharged  with  wine,  porter,  or  any  other  kind  of 
spirituous  liquors,  or  on  any  account  drink  with  them  ? Does 
she  not  know  that  she  thereby  renders  herself  liable  to  say  or 
hear  what  it  would  make  her  blush  to  reflect  upon  ? 

These  drinks  also  excite  the  combative  or  contending  pro- 
pensity. So  combustible  is  the  anger  of  the  intoxicated,  that 
they  take  fire  at  every  little  thing,  and  even  seek  occasions  to 
quarrel ; and  more  bickerings,  broils,  fights,  and  duels  are 
engendered  by  ardent  spirits  than  by  all  other  causes  united. 
How  rarely  do  men  fight  unless  when  excited  by  liquor  ? 
How  easily  and  powerfully  provoked,  how  “ all  fit  for  a fight,55 
do  even  well-disposed  men  become  when  intoxicated  ? Byron 
said  that  stimulants  always  rendered  him  “ savage  and  suspi- 
cious.55 

Alcoholic  drinks  also  stimulate  Destructiveness,  or  the  bit- 
ter, hating,  revengeful  feeling;  and  hence  drinkers  will  caress 
their  wives  and  children  one  minute,  but  beat  them  the  next. 
More  murders  are  caused  by  ardent  spirit  than  by  all.  other 
causes  combined.  Let  the  calendars  of  crime  decide  this 
point.  Hence,  also,  intoxicated  men  not  only  rail,  curse, 
break,  destroy,  vociferate,  and  threaten  vengeance,  more  than 
when  sober,  but  it  is  then  that  an  old  grudge,  otherwise  long 
since  buried,  is  raked  up,  and  dire  vengeance  sought  and 


A CAUSE  OF  DEPRAVITY. 


53 


obtained  ; and  generally  a human  being  can  screw  up  his 
Destructiveness  to  the  sticking  point  of  murder,  and  depress 
his  Benevolence  and  Conscientiousness  below  the  remonstrat- 
ing point  only,  or  at  least  most  effectually,  by  ardent  spirit. 
Gibbs,  the  inhuman  pirate  who  committed  so  many  cold- 
blooded murders,  confessed  to  his  clergyman  before  his  death, 
that  when  about  to  perpetrate  his  most  atrocious  murders,  his 
courage  often  failed,  till  he  had  taken  several  potent  draughts 
of  strong  liquor,  which  enabled  him  to  commit  any  act  of 
cruelty,  however  horrible,  upon  even  defenceless  females.  Fie- 
schi,  the  attempted  regicide,  who  fired  the  infernal  machine  at 
the  present  king  of  France,  on  his  trial,  testified  that  when  he 
saw  the  procession  coming,  his  courage  failed  him,  but  was 
revived  by  a dram  of  brandy ; that  it  failed  him  a second 
time,  but  was  restored  by  a second  dram,  but  that  he  could  not 
bring  himself  to  do  the  fatal  deed  till  he  had  taken  a third, 
and  still  more  potent  draught,  and  then  he  did  it  with  a 
relish. 

Nothing  but  animal  propensity  subjects  criminals  to  the 
penalties  of  violated  civil  law.  Let,  then,  our  intelligent  law- 
yers, judges,  sheriffs,  justices,  and  observers,  answer  the  ques- 
tion, “ Does  not  most,  if  not  nearly  all  your  criminal  business 
have  its  origin  in  drinking  V9  But  unless  alcoholic  drinks 
excite  these  propensities  more,  relatively,  than  the  higher 
faculties,  especially  if  they  stimulate  the  moral  sentiments, 
this  state  of  things  would  be  reversed,  and  drinking  would 
render  mankind  more  virtuous  instead  of  most  vicious. 

In  olden  time,  a man  who  had  committed  some  heinous  crime, 
and  deserved  punishment,  was  allowed  to  choose  between  the 
three  crimes  of  drunkenness,  incest,  and  patricide.  He  choose 
the  former,  but  while  drunk  committed  both  the  others.  The 
fact  stands  out  in  bold  relief,  that  drunkenness  and  vice  go 
hand  in  hand.  Intoxication  is  indeed  the  parent  of  all  the 
vices,  and  this  principle  shows  why,  namely,  because  this  re- 
ciprocal connection  between  the  body  and  the  base  of  the 
brain  causes  stimulants  to  excite  the  propensities  more,  rela- 
tively, than  the  moral  or  intellectual  organs,  and  this  induces 
vice  and  wickedness. 

5* 


54 


PHYSICAL  DISEASE 


This  law  also  shows  why  intoxication  often  renders  good 
men  real  demons  incarnate.  As  long  as  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual faculties  predominate,  no  matter  if  the  propensities  be 
vigorous.  Duly  governed,  the  more  the  better,  because  they 
impart  force.  When  the  two  are  about  equal,  with  the  moral 
in  the  ascendency,  and  the  animal  not  stimulated,  all  goes 
right ; but  a little  stimulant  will  often  give  the  ascendency  to 
the  propensities,  and  thus  render  truly  good  men  very  bad. 
But  mark  well  the  converse : it  never  renders  bad  men  good, 
nor  the  immoral  virtuous ; because  it  never  stimulates  the 
moral  and  intellectual  faculties  more  than  the  animal  feelings. 

This  principle  also  shows  why  men  drink  grog  with  friends, 
instead  of  drinking  or  doing  anything  else.  As  Adhesiveness 
is  located  in  the  base  of  the  brain,  ardent  spirits  warm  it  up 
to  vigorous  action,  and  thus  augment  the  flow  and  intensity 
of  friendly  feeling,  and  hence  those  who  are  half-intoxicated 
often  hug  and  caress  each  other.  If  alcohol  excited  friend- 
ship alone,  it  would  do  little  injury — perhaps  good — but  since 
it  inflames  the  other  animal  passions  also,  drinkers  will  be  the 
warmest  of  friends  one  minute,  and  the  bitterest  enemies  the 
next,  and  then  make  up  over  another  glass. 

Parental  love  is  also  located  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  hind 
head ; and  hence  the  half-intoxicated  father  will  foolishly  fon- 
dle his  boy  and  laud  him  to  the  skies  one  minute,  but  beat 
him  almost  to  death  the  next.  Liquor  excites  conversation, 
because  Language  is  in  the  lowest  part  of  the  forehead  ; but  as 
the  reasoning  organs,  which  originate  ideas,  are  in  the  upper 
portion  of  the  forehead,  and  therefore  not  only  not  stimulated, 
but  actually  weakened  by  it,  drinkers  talk,  talk,  talk,  but  say 
nothing — -talk  words,  not  ideas.  Nor  can  the  intoxicated  rea- 
son. How  almost  impossible  to  convince  them,  however  ab- 
surd their  positions,  or  self-evident  yours.  They  cannot  see 
the  point  at  issue ; they  argue  at  random,  and  seem  callous  to 
reasons,  however  clear  or  forcible.  Yet  their  Combativeness 
and  all  their  prejudices  are  enhanced.  How  destitute  of  sense, 
thought,  and  refinement,  the  conversation  both  of  drunkards 
and  of  those  who  stimulate  only  moderately ! Witness  bar- 
room conversation ! — full  of  stories,  to  be  sure,  but  what  kind 


A CAUSE  OF  DEPRAVITY. 


55 


of  stories  ? The  more  animal,  the  better.  A Byron,  half- 
intoxicated,  may  indeed  write  Don  Juan,  and  like  productions, 
and  compose  poetry  mostly  addressed  to  the  passions;  but 
none  in  this  state  ever  wrote  Paradise  Lost,  Thomson’s  Sea- 
sons, Locke  on  the  Human  Understanding,  Brown’s  Mental 
Philosophy,  or  Edwards  on  the  Will.  Pitt,  Fox,  Sheridan,  and 
others,  may  be  eloquent  when  partially  intoxicated,  yet  their 
eloquence  will  be  characterized  by  sarcasm,  invective,  denun- 
ciation, declamation,  hyperbole,  narration,  and  a remarkable 
flow  of  words,  instead  of  by  argument,  profundity,  or  clear 
deductions  from  first  principles ; nor  will  it  be  freighted  with 
rich  ideas.  But  before  drinkers  can  become  even  eloquent — 
a power  far  below  reason — they  require  a peculiarity  of  tem- 
perament and  phrenological  developments  not  found  in  one 
man  in  millions  ; while  it  will  destroy  that  of  all  the  others, 
by  overcharging  some  with  excitement,  and  rendering  others 
foolish,  others  bombastic,  etc. 

Alcoholic  drinks,  besides  exciting  the  lower  organs  more, 
relatively,  than  the  higher,  also  subsequently  deaden  them  pro- 
portionally. After  having  surcharged  Amativeness,  they  pros- 
trate it,  and  hence  quench  connubial  love  and  all  the  domestic 
virtues.  Hence  drunkards  generally  neglect  if  not  abuse 
their  families — a fact  as  notorious  as  this  explanation  of  its 
cause  is  clear.  While  the  exhilaration  lasts,  it  surcharges 
Combativeness  and  Destructiveness,  only  to  palsy  them  after  it 
subsides.  Hence  its  subjects  lose  all  spirit  and  efficiency,  and 
rarely  take  their  own  part  or  that  even  of  their  families  when 
abused,  so  that  boys  may  impose  on  them  with  impunity,  and 
are  irresolute  and  inefficient. 

This  principle  shows  why  the  ambition  of  inebriates  de- 
scends to  propensity  instead  of  ascending  to  the  higher  facul- 
ties, and  thus  renders  them  doubly  sinful  and  miserable.* 


* Since  the  religion  of  Christ  consists  in  the  ascendency  of  the  moral 
and  intellectual  over  the  animal,  and  the  subjugation  of  the  propensities, 
and  since  all  stimulating  drinks  morbidly  excite  propensity,  and  of  course 
violate  this  cardinal  requisition  of  the  gospel,  therefore  wine  and  spirit- 
drinking Christians  are  as  perfect  anomalies  as  hot  ice  or  cold  fire.  As 
vrell  have  wicked  Christians  as  spirit-drinking  Christians. 


56 


PHYSICAL  DISEASE. 


It  also  shows  why  intemperance  enfeebles  self-control. 
They  know  the  right.  Their  less  debilitated,  because  pre- 
viously less  stimulated,  intellects  know  the  right,  yet  they 
have  not  sufficient  self-government  left  to  stem  the  downward 
current.  Conscientiousness  remonstrates,  but  with  little  avail, 
and  the  moral  powers  lift  up  their  warning  and  persuasive 
voice  without  effect,  because  located  far  from  the  body 
Hence,  nothing  but  dragging  them  into  the  kingdom  of  tern 
perance  by  that  inimitable  principle  of  Washingtonian  kind- 
ness, and  then  removing  temptation  till  self-control  revives, 
can  save  them.  And  if  they  fall,  forbear— not  condemn— 
and  put  them  once  more  upon  their  feet. 

Again  : ambition  always  combines  with  those  faculties  which 
are  the  most  active.  Combined  with  Conscientiousness,  it  gives 
regard  for  MOPtAL  character  and  correct  motives  ; with  Intel- 
lect, desire  to  be  reputed  learned  and  talented  ; with  Ideality, 
for  good  taste,  good  manners,  etc. ; but  combined  with  Com- 
bativeness, for  being  the  greatest  wrestler,  fighter,  etc. ; and 
with  the  other  animal  propensities,  for  being  first  in  their  in- 
dulgence. Hence,  since  intemperance  stimulates  both  am- 
bition and  propensity,  it  renders  its  victims  emulous  to  be  the 
greatest  libertine,  wrestler,  fighter,  drinker,  and  the  like,  but 
never  to  excel  in  talents  or  goodness.  Two  inebriates  in 
Easton,  Md.,  in  1840,  vied  with  each  other,  on  a wager,  as  to 
which  could  drink  the  other  drunk.  The  next  morning  one 
of  them  was  dead  drunk. 

The  half-intoxicated  find  their  Acquisitiveness  excited,  and 
hence  continually  ask,  “ how  much  will  you  give  ?”  “ what 
will  you  take?”  “ how  will  you  swap?”  etc.,  or  suddenly 
become  very  rich,  or  bet,  or  else  seek  the  gambling  or  bil- 
liard-table in  quest  of  fortunes  at  once ; yet,  as  their  intellec- 
tual organs  are  not  equally  excited,  they  generally  make  bad 
bargains ; but,  under  the  reaction  which  follows,  they  have 
little  or  no  regard  for  property,  and  little  industry,  economy, 
or  forethought  about  laying  up  for  the  future,  but  squander 
their  all  for  liquor,  even  to  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths  of  their 
hungry  children,  and  to  the  clothes  from  off  their  wives’ 
backs.  Hence  they  are  universally  poor,  ragged,  and  desti- 


A CAUSE  OF  DEPRAVITY. 


57 


tute.  If  John  Jacob  Astor  should  become  a drunkard,  even 
his  immense  estate  would  become  scattered  to  the  winds. 
During  the  exhilaration  produced  by  strong  drink,  self-esteem 
and  love  of  approbation  become  unduly  excited,  and  occasion 
boasting,  bragging,  swaggering,  egotism,  and  a disposition  to 
swell  and  dash  out  in  gaudy  style,  assume  airs,  attract  notice, 
etc. ; yet,  during  the  subsequent  reaction,  regard  for  charac- 
ter and  reputation  is  annulled,  and  with  it  one  of  the  strongest 
incentives  to  virtuous  and  praiseworthy  actions,  as  well  as 
restraints  upon  vice  and  self-degradation.  At  first  they  are 
mortified  beyond  description  if  seen  intoxicated,  but  after- 
ward care  naught  for  credit,  honor,  promises,  respectability, 
or  even  the  disgrace  of  family ; are  destitute  of  shame,  dead 
to  dignity  and  manly  feeling,  and  associate  with  those  to 
whom  they  would  before  have  scorned  even  to  speak. 

Why  do  not  alcoholic  drinks  render  the  pious  more  devout, 
and  the  literary  ten  times  more  intellectual  ? Why  not  deepen 
and  widen  the  channels  of  thought  ? Why  not  render  ordi- 
nary men  Websters,  Franklins,  Broughams,  and  Herschels, 
and  these  intellectual  giants  actual  Gabriels  in  intellect  ? Oi 
why  not  excite  the  moral  faculties  instead  of  the  animal  ? 
Why  not  make  infidels,  Enochs?  deists,  Wesleys?  skeptics, 
Paysons  ? Why  are  not  all  spirit-drinkers  patterns  of  piety 
and  good  morals,  and  also  stars  in  the  firmanent  of  intellectual 
greatness  ? The  law  in  question  answers.  Not  only  do  they 
not  augment  talent  and  enhance  literary  attainments,  or  make 
the  profane  pious,  but  they  actually  diminish  them  all.  They 
prostrate  intellect,  bedim  reason,  darken  counsel,  render  the 
ideas  muddy,  and  before  their  approach,  literary  attainments, 
intellectual  greatness,  and  moral  purity,  all  vanish  like  the 
dew  before  the  rising  sun.  They  sometimes,  though  rarely, 
increase  a certain  kind  of  eloquence,  yet  are  sworn  enemies 
of  greatness  and  goodness. 

How  overwhelming  the  proof,  therefore,  how  powerful  and 
absolutely  inevitable  the  conclusion,  not  only  that  all  alcoholic 
drinks,  but  also  that  whatever  morbidly  excites  the  brain  and 
nervous  system,  thereby  kindle  the  animal  propensities  mainly, 
but  weaken  the  moral  and  intellectual  powers.  No  more 


58 


PHYSICAL  DISEASE 


can  any  human  being  take  either  alcoholic  liquors  in  any 
form  or  degree,  or  opium,  tea,  coffee,  mustard,  spices,  or  any 
other  stimulant,  without  thereby  proportionably  inducing  this 
result — without  brutalizing  his  nature,  degrading  his  manhood 
below  his  beasthood,  and  subjugating  intellect  and  moral  feel- 
ing to  the  sw’ay  of  passion — than  he  can  “ carry  coals  of  fire 
in  his  bosom  and  not  be  burned.”  As  soon  will  any  other 
law  of  nature  fail  as  this.  As  soon  will  the  deadly  poisons 
become  harmless,  or  water  run  up  the  inclined  plane  of  itself, 
or  the  sun  rise  in  the  west,  as  any  kind  of  morbid  physical 
action  fail  to  produce  animality.  Nor  does  any  middle  ground 
remain.  Every  item  of  artificial  stimulant  produces  this  ani- 
mal result  as  its  legitimate,  its  constitutional  effect.* 

Behold,  then,  ye  who  would  subdue  your  “ easily  besetting5’ 
propensities,  and  elevate  the  moral  above  the  animal,  an  easy 
yet  efficacious  means  of  obtaining  so  exalted  an  end,  namely, 
by  keeping  the  body  in  a healthy  state.  Behold,  moreover, 
the  great  procuring  cause  of  most  of  man’s  depravity,  and 
consequent  wretchedness,  namely,  a morbid  physiology. 
Since  an  irritated  or  abnormal  state  of  the  body  morbidly 
excites  the  brain,  and  thereby  vitiates  its  functions  156  210,  espe- 
cially those  of  the  propensities210,  and  since  such  abnormal 
action  causes  abnormal  and  depraved  mental  desires  209,  there- 
fore that  physiological  inflammation  caused  by  intemper- 
ance210, gormandizing65,  tea,  coffee,  and  tobacco175,  condi- 
ments56, colds108,  flesh-eating44,  sedentary  habits141,  and  the  per- 
petual violation,  by  nearly  all  mankind,  of  the  laws  of  health, 
must  of  necessity  deprave  the  feelings  by  deranging  the  phys- 
iology, and  of  course  the  mentality.  Nor  is  it  certain  that 
the  forbidden  fruit  did  not  usher  in  moral  depravity  by  occa- 
sioning an  obnoxious  state  of  the  physiology.  Both  human 
and  personal  reform  and  improvement  must  begin  with  restor- 
ing normality  of  function  to  body  and  brain,  and  be  mainly 

* In  a small  treatise  on  Intemperance,  founded  on  Phrenology  ana 
Physiology,  the  author  brings  the  preceding  principle  and  train  of  re- 
marks to  bear  upon  alcoholic  drinks,  and  shows  that  every  identical  glass 
stimulates  the  propensities  proportionably,  and  produces  vice  and  misery — - 
a most  powerful  appeal  and  argument  in  behalf  of  total  abstinence. 


A CAUSE  OF  DEPRAVITY. 


59 


effected  by  physical  regimen.  Nor  is  it  to  possible  to  effect 
moral  reform  without  physical,  any  more  than  it  is  possible  for 
inflamed  brain  and  nerves  to  produce  normal  manifestations. 
This  doctrine  may  find  opponents,  but  no  refuters.  It  is  new, 
but  true.  To  be  “ temperate  in  all  things75  is  the  first 
great'  condition  of  goodness  and  talents.  To  “ present  our 
bodies  a living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  is  our 
spiritual  sacrifice  whereas  to  disorder  the  body  by  any  vio- 
lation of  the  laws  of  health  whatever  is  to  deprave  the  mind. 
Moral  purity  is  as  utterly  incompatible  with  physical  impurity 
as  intellectual  power  with  physical  weakness.  O that  all 
were  duly  impressed  with  the  power  and  sweep  of  these  phys- 
i.co-mental  principles  ! Ministers  may  preach,  and  revivals  be 
multiplied  to  any  extent,  without  laying  the  ax  at  the  root 
of  the  tree  of  vice  36  37  38  39  42  44.  Mankind  must  abandon 
flesh,  condiments,  narcotics,  gluttony,  and  fermented  liquors, 
and  substitute  farinaceous  food50,  cold  water168,  and  a light 
diet-must  learn  bow  to  eat  and  live  before  they  can  expect 
to  attain  the  exalted  destinies  and  powers  of  which  human 
nature  is  capable.  The  pious  yet  ignorant  Christian  cannot 
grow  better  by  praying  to  God  to  enable  him  to  resist  tempta 
tion  on  one  hand,  while  on  the  other  he  is  adding  new  fuel 
to  the  fierce  fires  of  animal  passions  by  fevering  his  body, 
and  thereby  his  propensities,  but  must  govern  vicious  and 
promote  virtuous  tendencies,  in  part,  by  physiological  pre- 
scriptions. 

Parents  weep  and  pray  over  the  waywardness  and  depravity 
of  their  children,  and  strive  to  reform  them  in  vain,  while 
they  morbidly  excite  their  Combativeness,  Destructiveness, 
and  Selfishness,  by  ignorantly  keeping  their  bodies,  and  con- 
sequently animal  organs,  in  an  inflamed  and  abnormal  con- 
dition by  meats  and  drinks,  heating  in  kind  56  59,  excessive  in 
quantity  65,  ill-timed  73,  and  otherwise  pernicious  ; or  by  allow- 
ing them  to  contract  colds  and  sickness,  and,  in  short,  by  not 
keeping  their  bodies  in  a calm  and  healthy  state.  Morbid, 

* 1 Cor.  xii.  1.  The  word  translated  u reasonable”  should  have  been 
rendered  “ spiritual. 9 


60 


GOVERNING  PROPENSITY 


nervous  excitement  can  produce  nothing  but  ill  nature  and 
general  depravity  209,  which  physical  chastisement  only  in- 
creases, because  it  enhances  their  cause.  Rather  punish  those 
ignorant  nurses  or  parents  who  unintentionally  yet  effectually 
occasion  much  of  this  depravity  by  deranging  their  physiology. 
As  their  petulance  and  crying  are  mainly  expressions  oY  that 
depravity  consequent  on  the  irritated  state  of  their  propensities, 
and  as  this  is  mostly  consequent  on  physical  disease,  of  course 
keeping  them  in  perfect  health,  which  is  easily  done  by  obey- 
ing the  laws  of  health  26  27,  will  obviate  most  of  their  ugliness, 
and  substitute  the  sweet  and  lovely  for  the  hating  and  hateful. 
Nor  can  the  latter  possibly  be  accomplished  till  the  former  is 
effected.  Infants  cry  little  till  bad  nursing  has  disordered 
their  bodies,  but  then  they  cry  spitefully,  and  evince  much 
wrath.  Children  cry  when  unwell,  and  because  sick  ; but 
keeping  them  in  perfect  health  will  generally  render  them 
plafcid  and  lovely.  Those  who  doubt  this  great  practical 
truth  have  only  to  compare  the  sweetness  of  children  when 
perfectly  well,  with  the  tartness  and  snappishness  of  those  same 
children  when  unwell,  of  themselves  or  others  when  dyspeptic, 
nervous,  or  suffering  from  physical  indisposition,  with  the 
same  persons  when  digestion  is  good  and  health  excellent. 

In  short,  this  and  previous  sections  have  placed  these  mo- 
mentous truths  beyond  ail  manner  of  doubt  and  cavil— have 
established  them  by  an  order,  variety,  and  amount  of  proof 
completely  demonstrative.  Let  those  who  would  be  good  or 
great  hear  and  practice,  and  those  who  cavil  remember  that 
“this  is  truth,  though  at  enmity  with  the  teachings  of 
ages.55 

211  GOVERNING  THE  PROPENSITIES  BY  THE  INTELLECTUAL  AND  MORAL 
FACULTIES. 

Though  the  truth  and  paramount  importance  of  preceding 
conclusions  are  absolute  in  and  of  themselves,  yet  they  receive 
additional  importance  from  the  fundamental  law  of  virtue  and 
condition  of  enjoyment  that  the  action  of  the  propensities  can 
be  virtuous  and  pleasurable  only  when  guided  by  intellect, 
and  sanctioned  by  the  moral  sentiments.  It  so  is;  that,  to  pro- 


BY  THE  HIGHER  FACUL1  tES. 


61 


duce  happiness,  every  action,  feeling,  and  sentiment  of  human 
nature  must  be  sanctified  by  intellect  and  governed  by  en- 
lightened moral  sentiment.  Without  rendering  obedience  to 
this  law,  no  emotion,  no  action  of  life,  is  either  virtuous  in 
character  or  can  result  in  enjoyment.  Our  own  happiness 
and  that  of  our  fellow-men  require  that  we  exercise  our  pro- 
pensities only  “ by  and  with  the  consent,”  and  under  the  di- 
rection, of  the  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  and  that  all 
we  say,  do,  and  are,  not  thus  governed,  is  sinful  in  character, 
and  eventuates  in  suffering  to  the  actor  and  all  affected  thereby. 

To  illustrate.  Appetite,  indulged  for  the  mere  pleasures 
of  the  plate,  without  intellect  to  select  food  of  the  right  kinds 
and  best  qualities,  or  moral  sentiment  to  restrain  it  from  gor- 
mandizing, will  eat  unwholesome  kinds  of  food,  and  in  exces- 
sive quantities,  drink  alcoholic  liquors  and  other  injurious  bev- 
erages, chew  or  smoke  tobacco,  and  so  break  the  dietetic  laws 
as  to  disorder  the  stomach,  undermine  the  health,  blunt  tKe 
moral  sensibilities,  benumb  intellect,  abridge  all  the  physical 
moral  pleasures,  or  else  convert  them  into  suffering,  and  create 
vicious  inclinations210,  and  weaken,  pervert,  and  poison  our  en- 
tire nature,  besides  curtailing  the  very  gustatory  pleasures 
sought.  But  exercised  under  the  control  of  intellect  to  choose 
the  best  kinds,  and  direct  the  proper  quantity  of  food,  coupled 
with  predominant  moral  sentiment  to  secure  moderation,  it  fur- 
nishes abundant  sustenance  to  all  the  other  functions,  and  fits 
us,  as  far  as  possible,  for  our  other  duties  and  enjoyments, 
besides  yielding  the  greatest  gustatory  pleasure  attainable. 
Combativeness,  exercised  by  itself,  unsanctified  by  moral  sen- 
timent, and  undirected  by  reason — that  is,  without  adequate 
cause,  or  in  opposition  to  the  dictates  of  Causality — becomes 
mere  brute  force,  and  quarrels  without  occasion,  perhaps 
in  an  unjust  cause;  whereas,  exercised  under  the  control  of 
enlightened  moral  sentiment,  it  becomes  moral  courage,  de- 
fends right  and  truth,  prosecutes  moral  objects  with  fearless 
energy,  and  opposes  whatever  is  wrong  or  injurious  239 — than 
which  no  element  of  our  nature  is  more  virtuous  in  character, 
or  yields  more  pleasure  to  its  possessor  and  to  all  concerned. 
Acquisitiveness,  exercised  independently  of  moral  sentiment — * 
6 


62 


GOVERNING  PROPENSITY 


indulged  dishonestly,  as  the  thief,  knave,  gambler,  robber, 
and  the  like,  exercise  it,  that  is,  irrespective  of  justice  and 
humanity,  but  getting  money  by  foul  means  equally  with 
fair — renders  its  possessor  miserable,  and  those  whom  he 
wrongs  unhappy,  simply  because  this  propensity  is  not  gov- 
erned by  the  moral  sentiments  and  intellect ; but,  exercised  in 
conjunction  with  enlightened  conscience,  so  as  to  acquire  and 
pay  honestly,  and  subject  to  Benevolence,  so  as  to  prevent 
injury  in  others  or  oppressing  the  poor,  it  renders  him  happy 
in  the  acquisition  of  property,  and  all  around  him  happy  in  its 
proper  expenditure.  Ill-gotten  gain  curses  all,  and  benefits 
none.  Honesty  alone  is  policy. 

Let  a mother  be  ever  so  fond  of  her  darling  boy,  but  let  her 
not  guide  and  govern  her  maternal  love  by  the  dictates  of  the 
intellectual  and  the  moral  faculties  combined,  and  she  will  not 
know  how  to  keep  her  child  healthy,  and  therefore  will  suffer 
a world  of  anxiety  on  account  of  his  being  sick,  and  still  more 
if  he  should  die.  She  will  not  know  how  to  operate  on  his 
intellect  or  moral  feelings,  and  thus,  unable  to  govern  him, 
will  be  rendered  miserable  for  life  on  account  of  his' mischie- 
vous, wicked  propensities  and  conduct.  Or  she  will  spoil  her 
child  by  over  indulgence — an  occurrence  as  lamentable  as  it 
is  common — and  thereby  cause  unutterable  anguish  to  mother, 
child,  father,  society,  all  in  any  way  capable  of  being  affected 
by  the  child  or  the  man.  But  let  intellect  tell  her  what  phys- 
ical laws  she  must  obey  to  keep  her  child  always  well,  and 
all  the  suffering  of  mother,  of  boy,  of  all  concerned,  on  ac- 
count of  sickness  or  premature  death,  can  be  avoided,  and,  in 
their  stead,  his  perfect  health,  sprightliness,  happiness,  beauty, 
and  growing  maturity,  will  fill  the  boy  himself,  will  swell 
the  bosom  of  the  mother  with  joy  unspeakable  and  always 
increasing,  enable  the  boy  himself  to  become  a boon,  a bless- 
ing to  his  fellow-men  ; and  the  more  so,  if  the  mother’s  intel- 
’ect  enable  her  to  cultivate  and  develop  his  intellect  in  the 
best  possible  manner,  and  pour  a continual  stream  of  useful 
knowledge  and  sage  maxims  into  his  young  mind,  to  guide 
his  conduct,  to  call  out  and  develop  all  the  powers  of  his  mind, 
and  to  conduct  the  object  of  her  deep-rooted  and  well-guided 


BY  THE  HIGHER  FACULTIES. 


63 


maternal  affection  into  the  paths  of  wisdom,  learning,  and  in- 
fluence, till,  standing  on  a commanding  intellectual  eminence, 
he  controls  the  opinions  and  moulds  the  characters  of  thou- 
sands of  his  fellow-men ; while  he  himself  enjoys  all  that 
mind  can  confer ; his  mother  is  happy  beyond  description  in 
her  son ; and  societv  owes  and  pays  a tribute  of  praise  for  the 
happiness  spread  abroad  by  this  well-educated  son  of  intel- 
lect and  morality. 

Still  more  will  these  results  be  heightened,  if  she  add  high- 
toned  moral  feeling  to  this  powerful  and  well-directed  intellec- 
tual education.  Unless  thus  governed,  she  will  not  train  him 
up  in  the  paths  of  virtue,  but  will  tolerate,  perhaps  even  foster, 
his  depraved  inclinations,  and  thus  ruin  the  darling  object 
of  her  tender  but  misguided  love.  But  when  moral  senti- 
ment, in  conjunction  with  intellect,  rules  her  maternal  love, 
she  will  educate  him  morally,  as  well  as  intellectually  and 
physically.  She  will  “ train  him  up  in  the  way  he  should  go, 
and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  therefrom.”  She  will 
imbue  him  early  and  thoroughly  with  the  principles  of  virtue 
and  morality.  She  will  elevate  all  his  aims,  will  chasten  all 
his  feelings,  and  write  as  with  the  point  of  a diamond  upon 
the  tablet  of  his  yet  plastic  and  susceptible  soul,  in  living, 
burning  characters,  never  to  be  erased  : “ My  son,  walk  thou 
in  the  paths  of  virtue.  Turn  thou  away  from  every  sinful  in- 
dulgence and  he  will  obey  her.  Not  only  will  his  moral 
character  be  unblemished,  and  he  live  in  accordance  with  the 
principle  we  are  presenting,  and  therefore  be  happy  himself, 
but  he  will  dedicate  all  those  talents  already  presupposed  to 
the  cause  of  humanity,  and  thus  do  an  incalculable  amount  of 
good.  All  this  rich  harvest  of  happiness  to  him,  to  herself,  to 
mankind,  will  be  the  legitimate,  the  necessary  product  of  the 
intellectual  and  moral  seed  sown  by  his  mother.  It  will  all 
flow  naturally  from  the  mother’s  following  the  law  we  are 
urging,  of  governing  her  Philoprogenitiveness  by  the  dictates 
of  intellectual  and  moral  feeling.  And  these  fruits  will  be 
still  farther  sweetened  and  augmented,  if  parents  go  still  far- 
ther back,  and  apply  the  laws  of  hereditary  descent  so  as  to 
secure  a good  orignal  phvsicai,  moral,  and  intellectual  foun. 


64 


GOVERNING  PROPENSITY 


dation  in  their  child,  on  which  to  erect  this  glorious  super 
structure. 

The  importance  of  this  principle  can  be  measured  only  by 
the  heaven-wide  contrast  between  the  effects,  on  the  happiness 
of  the  parent,  of  the  goodness  and  badness,  the  health  and 
sickness,  the  life  and  death,  of  their  dear  children.  If  this 
law  were  observed,  we  should  have  no  premature  sickness  or 
death,  no  ebullitions  of  passion,  no  waywardness,  disobedience, 
or  immorality  in  children,  to  wring  the  hearts  of  parents  with 
anguish  unutterable,  and  to  carry  them  down  to  their  graves 
mourning.  Even  if  the  parent  love  his  child  morally,  and 
seek  to  make  him  better,  but,  unguided  by  intellect,  actually 
makes  him  worse,  a course  very  common,  his  child  becomes 
a torment  to  himself,  his  parents,  and  all  concerned.  We 
must  love  our  children  intellectually  and  morally,  if  we  would 
either  have  them  enjoy  life,  or  we  enjoy  our  children. 

Those  who  exercise  friendship  without  the  governing  influ- 
ences of  intellect  and  the  sanctions  of  the  moral  sentiments, 
will  choose  ignorant,  degraded,  and  immoral  associates,  who 
will  lower  down  the  tone  of  their  moral  feelings,  and  lead 
them  into  the  paths  of  sin,  and  thus  make  them  unhappy.  But 
he  who  exercises  his  friendship  under  the  sanction  of  the 
moral  faculties,  will  choose  intellectual  and  moral  companions, 
who  will  expand  his  intellect  and  strengthen  his  virtuous  feel- 
ings, and  this  will  make  him  and  them  the  more  happy. 
Friendship,  founded  on  intellect  and  virtuous  feeling,  is  far 
more  exalted  in  its  character,  and  beneficial  in  its  influence, 
than  when  founded  on  any  other  considerations,  while  friend- 
ship, founded  on  the  propensities,  will  increase  the  depravity 
and  misery  of  all  concerned. 

Associates  chosen  without  reference  to  their  moral  charac- 
ters, and  especially  in  violation  of  the  higher  faculties,  will 
increase  the  depravity  and  consequent  misery  of  each  other. 
O youth,  hear  tnis  one  piece  of  advice  : — mingle  only  with 
the  intellectual  and  the  good,  and  you  will  thus  almost  imper- 
ceptibly, yet  effectually,  become  like  them  226  227. 

Approbativeness,  or  love  of  the  good  opinion  of  others,  sanc- 
tified by  the  moral  sentiments,  begets  ambition  to  excel  in 


BY  THE  HIGHER  FACULTIES. 


65 


works  of  philanthropy,  seeks  to  keep  the  moral  character  pure 
and  spotless,  and  inspires  that  noble  emulation  which  prompts 
to  beneficial  deeds  ; and  guided  by  intellect,  becomes  intellec- 
tual ambition,  and  seeks  eminence  in  the  walks  of  literature 
or  the  fields  of  science  ; but  when  not  thus  governed,  it  de- 
generates into  a low,  animal,  grovelling,  sensual  ambition,  to 
become  the  greatest  eater,  or  fighter,  or  duellist,  or  dandy, 
or  coquette — a strife  which  causes  unhappiness  to  its  possessor 
and  to  all  concerned.  Self-Esteem,  governed  by  intellect  and 
moral  feeling,  imparts  that  nobleness  and  elevation  to  charac- 
ter and  conduct,  which  shed  a beam  of  exalted  pleasure  on  its 
possessor  and  all  around  him ; but  when  not  thus  governed,  it 
degenerates  into  egotism,  self-conceit,  imperativeness,  and  su- 
perciliousness, which  occasion  pain  to  himself  and  to  all  af- 
fected by  this  quality  in  him. 

Cautiousness  exercised  without  intellect,  that  is,  when  there 
is  no  reason  for  being  afraid,  produces  evil  only ; but  let  in- 
tellect govern  it,  so  that  it  is  exercised  only  when  there  is  real 
danger  to  be  avoided,  or  let  it  be  exercised  with  Benevolence, 
or  Justice,  so  as  to  render  us  fearful  lest  we  do  wrong,  or  care- 
ful not  to  injure  others,  and  its  product  is  most  beneficial. 
This  principle  might  be  illustrated  and  enforced  by  Amative- 
tiveness,  and  indeed  by  every  one  of  the  lower  faculties,  and 
completely  demonstrated  by  showing  how  superlatively  happy 
those  who  fulfil  this  cardinal  law  of  morality  and  happiness. 
But  does  a law  thus  clear  and  universal  in  its  application  re- 
quire additional  proof  or  illustration  ? Is  not  man  constituted 
to  be  governed  throughout  all  he  does,  says,  and  feels  by  en- 
lightened moral  sentiment  ? Are  not  those  aggravated  mise- 
ries and  the  multiform  wretchedness  of  mankind  which  appal  us 
wherever  we  turn  our  eyes,  caused  mainly  by  the  almost  uni- 
versal infraction  of  this  law  ? And  does  not  this  principle  har- 
monize perfectly  with  the  universal  fact  that  nineteen  twen- 
tieths of  all  the  time,  desires,  pursuits — everything — of  man- 
kind consist  in  gratifying  animal  propensity  in  some  of  its 
forms — in  scrambling  after  property,  or  office,  or  power — in 
procuring  food,  drinks,  raiment,  houses,  fashionable  equipage, 
attire,  etc. — in  family  cares,  contentions,  backbiting,  sensuality. 


66 


A FUNDAMENTAL  CONDITION 


and  other  animal  gratifications?  War,  lust,  money,  display, 
propensity,  and  consequent  misery,  sum  up  the  history  of 
man  ; nor,  in  the  nature  of  things,  is  it  possible  for  him  to  be 
happy  any  farther  than  he  is  holy,  that  is,  obeys  this  law. 
Before  he  can  enjoy  life,  and  in  order  to  such  enjoyment, 
man  as  a whole,  and  as  individuals,  must  take  time  from  the 
fashionable  world,  the  money-grasping  world,  the  sensual 
world,  and  this  hot  pursuit  of  animal  gratification,  to  bestow 
upon  the  cultivation  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties. 
To  be  happy,  he  must  become  wise  and  religious — must  sub- 
ject his  animal  nature  to  his  higher  powers ; and  he  is  most 
happy,  other  things  being  the  same,  who  does  this  the  most 
habitually  and  effectually.  Oh  ! if  mankind  would  but  do 
this,  no  tongue  can  tell,  no  finite  mind  conceive,  what  happi- 
ness would  be  the  delightful  result ! All  those  spiritual  con- 
solations conferred  by  that  religion  which  is  “ pure  and  unde- 
filed, and  that  fadeth  not  away,5’  would  flow  therefrom.  Hu- 
man sin  and  suffering  would  be  comparatively  banished  from 
our  world,  and  this  earth  become  again  a perfect  Paradise  ! 

It  deserves  additional  remark,  that  even  when  the  moral 
and  animal  faculties  combine  in  action,  if  the  animal  rule  the 
moral,  misery  is  the  inevitable  consequence.  What  produced 
the  Holy  Wars—?  holy  wickedness — but  this  combination? 
Yet  the  propensities  ruled  the  morals,  and  an  indescribable 
amount  of  misery  was  the  natural  consequence.  The  sacri- 
fice of  human  life  upon  the  altar  of  religious  fanaticism,  to- 
gether with  all  the  abominations  of  paganism,  originate  in 
this  same  ascendency  of  propensity.  Nor  need  we  go  thus 
far  from  home  to  find  kindred  examples  both  of  a breach  of 
this  law,  and  its  painful  consequences.  Indeed,  our  own  souls 
bear  this  sad  testimony  every  time  propensity  governs  intellect. 

Behold,  reader,  in  this  law  an  additional  and  most  powerful 
motive  for  “ preserving  your  bodies  holy,  acceptable  unto  God.” 
Since  you  can  neither  be  good  nor  happy  without  subjecting 
the  lower  faculties  to  the  higher  211,  and  since  a morbid  state 
of  the  physiology  prevents  such  subjugation  by  inflaming  the 
passions  2l°,  how  all-important  that  correct  physical  regimen 
which  shall  allay  propensity  and  develop  morality  and  intel- 


OF  VIRTUE  AND  HAPPINESS. 


67 


lect,  so  as  to  place  the  latter  upon  the  throne  over  the  for- 
mer ? 50  And  by  converse,  how  wicked  those  abuses  of  the 
laws  of  health  which  occasion  depravity,  first  by  rendering  the 
action  of  the  propensities  morbid,  or  abnormal  209,  and,  second- 
ly, by  perpetually  irritating  them,  and  thus  both  strengthen- 
ing them,  and  enthroning  them  on  the  conquered  necks  of  the 
angelic  elements  of  our  nature  ! Readers,  ye  who  would  un- 
derstand the  full  force  of  these  momentous  conclusions,  re-can- 
vass  tho<;p  principles  on  which  they  are  founded.  Go  over 
our  preceding  points,  especially  208  209  210  3H,  carefully  with  par- 
ticular reference  to  their  consecutive  bearing  on  this  grand 
focus  of  them  all,  and  then  say,  not  in  the  light  of  pre-enter- 
tained  notions  of  sin  and  its  causes,  but  in  that  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  whether  we  overrate  this  cause  of  human  sin  and 
wo.  At  least  say  whether  all  others  have  not  underrated  it 
or  else  overlooked  it  wholly.  Above  all,  put  it  in  rigid  and 
long-continued  practice,  and  then  decide  its  claims. 

In  view  of  these  truths,  how  comparatively  ineffectual  in 
its  reclaiming  power  most  of  the  preaching  of  the  present  day. 
Does  it  urge  the  preservation  of  health  as  a means  of  promo- 
ting moral  excellence  and  intellectual  power  ? Does  it  even 
recognize,  except  incidentally,  the  existence  of  physical  laws, 
or  the  duty  of  obeying  or  sin  of  violating  them  ? Yet  should 
it  not  warn  with  all  the  thunders  of  Sinai,  and  entreat  with  all 
the  persuasive  power  of  Jesus,  the  observance  of  the  physical 
as  a means  of  obeying  the  moral  ? Is  not  this  glaring  omission 
one  great  cause  of  its  inertness  ? Can  this  partial  view  of 
duty  be  expected  to  convince  or  control  conduct?  Does  not 
this  silence  in  reference  to  the  physical  laws  imply  that  they 
are  insignificant,  and  may  be  violated  with  impunity  ? Is 
suicide  so  very  little  a sin  ? — and  abuse  of  health  is  sui- 
cide 27.  As  Christ’s  “ new  commandment* — That  ye  love  one 
another,”  superseded,  because  it  embraced,  the  Decalogue,  so 
nature’s  great  command,  obey  my  physical  laws,  embodies 
even  this  law  of  love,  because,  as  already  seen,  physical  irri- 
tability causes  hatred,  lust,  and  selfishness,  in  all  their  hydra 
forms,  while  holy,  acceptable  bodies  subdue  raging  passion, 
promote  brotherly  love,  and  develop  all  the  higher  aspirations 


68 


WELL-BALANCED  FACULTIES 


and  liolier  emotions  of  our  nature.  Narrow-souled  religionists 
will  cavil  at  this  superesding  of  their  contracted  isms  by  this 
view  of  one  of  the  causes  and  remedies  of  human  depravity ; 
but  ye  who  would  learn  and  do  your  whole  duty,  will  heed 
and  strive  to  fulfil  these  fundamental  conditions  of  virtue  and 
happiness.  And  wo  to  those  who  ignorantly  or  wantonly  vio- 
late them.  God  will  in  no  wise  let  him  go  unpunished  who 
thus  breaks  this  law6.  “ The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die.” 
This  is  one  of  Heaven’s  highest  laws,  and  its  penalties  corres- 
pondingly aggravated.  Reader,  let  us  make  its  study  and 
obedience  our  daily,  hourly,  and  paramount  business,  and  the 
solemn,  imperious  duty  of  life.  And  whenever  we  sin 
against  it,  let  us  most  humbly  repent  and  reform.  Put  your 
physiology  into  the  right  state  first,  and  then  keep  it  right, 
and  you  will  improve  apace  in  this  world,  and  ripen  rapidly 
for  a better. 


SECTION  IV. 

THE  EVENLY-BALANCED  OR  PROPORTIONATE  ACTION  OF  THE 

FACULTIES  A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION ITS  FEASIBILITY, 

AND  THE  MODE  OF  SECURING  IT. 

212.  PROPORTION  A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION. 

The  previous  volume  on  “ Physiology,”  and  the  antecedent 
sections  of  this  volume,  have  shown  what  constitute  a perfect 
body ; that  is,  what  physiological  conditions  are  most  promo* 
tive  of  the  highest  order  and  power  of  mind.  We  come  now 
to  the  momentous  inquiries : What  constitutes  perfection  of 
head  and  character  ? And  how  can  it  be  promoted  ? Phre- 
nology answers.  Let  its  answer  be  duly  heeded  and  reduced 
to  practice. 

That  the  proportionate  development  and  exercise  of  all 
the  parts  which  compose  a given  thing  is  a law  of  nature,  was 
fully  shown  in  “ Physiology”163,  and  this  law  proved  to  embody 
a fundamental  condition  of  health,  while  its  infraction  was 


A CONDITION  OF  PERRECTiON. 


69 


shown  to  be  a prolific  cause  of  disease.  Can  a small  heart 
serve  a large  body  as  well  as  a large  heart  ? Can  a small  or 
weak  stomach  digest  for  an  athletic  and  powerful  frame  ? 
Would  small  lungs  work  in  connection  with  a powerful  stom- 
ach any  better  than  an  elephant  yoked  up  with  a sheep  ? Since 
a given  amount  of  oxygen  inhaled  through  the  lungs  can 
combine  with  and  burn  up  only  its  fixed  equivalent  of  the 
carbon  evolved  by  the  stomach92,  and  since  a surplus  of  either 
is  hostile  to  life164,  of  course  perfect  health  requires  that  both 
be  equally  large  and  powerful.  As  the  supply  of  vitality 
must  equal  its  expenditure,  or  exhaustion  take  place165,  and 
its  exhaustion  equal  its  supply,  else  corpulency  and  obesity 
ensue164 — as  breathing,  eating,  sleep,  etc.,  must  be  in  propor- 
tion to  muscular  and  mental  action,  and  it  to  them,  and  thus 
of  all  the  other  physical  functions,  so  pre-eminently  of  the 
mental  powers.  Perfect  balance  must  exist  between  them 
all,  or  imperfection  in  feeling,  opinion,  and  conduct,  must  en- 
sue. Hence,  whenever  in  my  professional  examinations  I 
find  an  unevenly  developed  head — some  organs  projecting  far 
out,  and  others  retiring  far  in — I predict  an  equally  uneven 
character.  Such  are  liable  to  have  marked  excesses  and 
deficiencies ; to  take  partial  and  one-sided  views  of  things ; 
and  are  subject  to  extremes,  which  is  only  another  name  for 
imperfection,  excesses,  and  tendencies  to  evil.  But  an  even 
head,  in  which  all  the  organs  are  equally  developed,  and  the 
faculties  harmoniously  exercised,  facilitates  correct  judgment, 
consistent  conduct,  perfection  of  character,  and  a virtuous, 
happy  life.  Indeed,  the  very  definition  of  virtue,  according 
to  Phrenology,  is  the  harmonious  exercise  of  all  the  faculties 
in  due  proportion,  upon  their  legitimate  objects,  controlled  by 
the  moral  sentiments  and  directed  by  intellect211;  but  vice  and 
sin  consist  in  the  excessive,  defective,  or  perverted208  action 
of  the  faculties,  and  especially  of  the  animal  propensities,  not 
thus  directed. 

This  principle  applies  equally  to  the  individual  faculties, 
and  to  their  classes.  Thus,  when  the  propensities  predomi- 
nate in  action,  they  demoralize  and  debase  reason  and  moral 
feeling — the  highest,  noblest  gifts  of  God  to  man — and  while^ 


70 


WELL-BALANCED  FACULTIES 


in  one  sense,  they  assimilate  the  “ lord  of  creation”  to  the 
“ beasts  that  perish,”  in  another  they  render  him  far  worse, 
because  of  his  greater  susceptibilities  of  enjoyment  and  suf- 
fering. Selfishness,  the  product  of  excess  of  propensity  over 
the  higher  faculties,  punishes  its  possessor.  The  selfish  or 
vicious  are  of  necessity  miserable,  for  their  selfishness  and 
vice  naturally  render  them  so.  On  the  other  hand,  feeble- 
ness of  propensity  constitutes  imperfection  ; for  one  with  weak 
animal  and  selfish  organs  has  too  little  force  to  carry  forward 
any  important  plan,  or  even  to  take  care  of  himself.  He 
must,  therefore,  be  taken  care  of  by  others,  and  of  course 
poorly ; for  to  depend  upon  others  for  support  or  protection  is 
to  depend  upon  a broken  reed239.  So,  too,  those  in  whom  the 
moral  faculties  are  very  large,  and  the  animal  weak,  are  in- 
deed good,  moral,  virtuous : but  they  are  too  good — so  very 
good  as  to  be  good  for  nothing,  because  they  have  too  little 
force  or  energy  to  carry  their  good  feelings  into  execution.  A 
man  with  weak  propensities  and  great  intellectual  organs  will 
never  effect  much  with  his  intellect.  One  with  weaker  intel- 
lect and  strong  propensities  will  effect  much  more,  yet  it  is 
liable  to  be  only  for  evil. 

A predominance  of  the  propensities  and  intellect  over  the 
moral  faculties  leads  to  most  disastrous  consequences ; for 
powerful  animal  desires  will  then  employ  a powerful  intellect 
to  effect  purely  selfish,  wicked  ends,  and  stop  at  no  means  of 
attaining  them.  This  was  the  organization  of  Patty  Cannon, 
that  most  wicked  woman  and  desperate  murderer;  of  Nero, 
that  human  fiend — and  of  most  of  the  scourges  of  mankind. 
Nor  is  the  predominance  of  the  moral  faculties  with  the  pro- 
pensities, but  without  intellect,  scarcely  less  injurious,  because, 
though  it  may  give  zeal,  yet  it  will  be  without  knowledge ; 
and  this  it  was  which  lit  the  fires  of  Smithfield,  devastated  the 
world  by  the  “ Holy  Wars,”  caused  the  “ Salem  Witchcraft,” 
and  has  instigated  religious  persecutions,  and  created  pious 
sinfulness.  But  where  each  of  these  three  great  classes  of 
faculties  are  equally  developed,  the  propensities  give  force, 
daring,  energy,  and  eager  desires ; the  moral  convert  the 
anima  into  a philanthropic  and  religious  channel,  and  intel- 


A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION. 


71 


lent  guides  them  both,  by  the  light  of  reason,  to  happiness — 
that  great  end  of  our  being.  The  propensities  require  to  be 
strong,  but  should  be  checked,  and  made  subservient  to  high 
moral  ends ; the  moral  sentiments  require  to  be  predominant, 
but  musi  have  the  helping  hand  of  the  propensities  to  carry 
them  out ; and  both  require  knowledge  to  enlighten,  and  judg- 
ment to  conduct  them  to  the  best  results. 

This  same  principle  of  balance  or  proportionate  action  ap- 
plies with  equal,  if  not  still  greater  force  to  the  individual 
faculties.  The  predominance  or  deficiency  of  either  is  inju- 
rious ; but  their  proportionate  action  is  a leading  condition  of 
perfection  and  enjoyment.  Thus  Amativeness,  fairly  devel- 
oped and  governed  by  the  moral  sentiments,  produces  connu- 
bial love,  than  which  there  is  not  a more  virtuous  or  pleasura- 
ble feeling  in  man  ; but  its  deficiency  causes  the  proportion- 
ate absence  of  this  virtue,  while  its  excessive  action  produces 
one  of  the  worst  and  most  painful  forms  of  vice.  Very 
large  Philoprogenitiveness  spoils  children  by  over-indulgence 
and  excessive  tenderness;  while  its  deficiency  annuls  the 
joys  of  parents,  and  renders  children  intolerable  and  bur- 
densome, instead  of  their  being  the  greatest  of  pleasures ; but 
its  due  development  experiences  all  the  joys  of  parental  love, 
and,  if  governed  by  enlightened  intellect  and  high  moral  feel- 
ing, secures  the  best  good  of  both  parent  and  child.  Exces- 
sive Combativeness,  acting  alone,  engenders  contention,  causes 
physical  fighting,  and  creates  a sour,  ugly  temper,  which  are 
highly  vicious,  and  thereby  incur  the  penalty  attached  to  the 
violation  of  this  mental  law  ; whereas  this  faculty,  when  it  acts 
in  obedience  to  Conscientiousness  and  Benevolence,  becomes 
moral  courage,  defence  of  rights,  and  of  the  oppressed — a 
highly  virtuous  emotion.  The  proportionate  exercise  of  Ali- 
mentiveness,  that  is,  eating  as  much  as  we  require,  but  no 
more,  by  strengthening  the  body,  and  thereby  the  moral  and 
intellectual  faculties,  is  virtuous,  and  brings  with  it  its  own 
reward  ; while  its  excessive  indulgence,  by  overloading  the 
stomach,  and  thus  clouding  the  intellect,  and  blunting  the 
moral  sensibilities,  becomes  a cause  of  pain  and  sin.  Aver- 
age Secretiveness,  governed  by  Conscientiousness,  employs 


72 


BALANCE  OF  FACULTIES 


policy  in  a good  cause ; while  its  excessive  action,  unchecked 
by  the  higher  faculties,  leads  to  lying  and  duplicity,  but  its 
deficiency  oocasions  too  great  openness  and  bluntness,  and 
want  of  tact.  Acquisitiveness,  or  love  of  property,  duly  exor- 
cised, promotes  industry  and  sobriety,  gathers  around  us  the 
comforts  of  life,  and,  aided  by  Conscientiousness,  produces 
even-handed  justice;  but  its  predominance  leads  to  cheat- 
ing, extortion,  and  miserly  selfishness,  while  its  deficiency 
causes  prodigality.  Excessive  Cautiousness  begets  irresolu- 
tion, procrastination,  and  timidity,  and  is  unfavorable  both  to 
virtue  and  efficiency ; but,  duly  balanced,  it  gives  that  dis- 
cretion which  is  the  better  part  of  valor,  while  its  deficiency 
occasions  recklessness.  Self-esteem,  when  it  predominates, 
unchecked  by  Conscientiousness  or  intellect,  inflates,  almost  to 
bursting,  with  pride,  self-sufficiency,  haughtiness,  and  egotism  ; 
whereas  its  due  development,  controlled  by  the  moral  and  in- 
tellectual faculties,  imparts  dignity,  and  that  self-respect  which 
elevates  one  above  meanness  and  trifling,  and  causes  him  fully 
to  appreciate  and  fulfil  the  great  objects  of  life.  But  if  it  be 
smaller  than  his  other  organs,  he  underrates  himself,  is  there- 
fore underrated  by  others,  and  feels  too  diffident  and  insufficient 
to  attempt  or  accomplish  great  things.  Predominant  Firm- 
ness, uncontrolled,  renders  one  obstinate,  impervious  to  con- 
viction, and  blindly  tenacious  of  his  opinions,  whether  right 
or  wrong,  merely  because  of  his  will ; but  those  in  whom  it 
is  small  are  too  fickle  to  accomplish  much — sow,  but  have  no 
perseverance  to  wait  for  the  harvest,  and  are  “ blown  about 
by  every  wind  of  doctrine,”  every  new  notion,  every  novel 
scheme ; but,  fairly  developed  and  balanced,  no  element  of 
character  is  more  valuable.  Prominent  Ideality  renders  one 
fastidious,  and  too  delicate  and  refined ; its  deficiency  leads 
to  coarseness  and  vulgarity,  but  its  fair  development  blends 
the  serviceable  with  the  perfect,  and  combines  utility  with 
beauty. 

This  same  principle,  that  balance  of  faculties  is  indispen- 
sable to  perfection  of  character,  applies  with  still  greater 
force  to  the  moral  faculties,  and  also  explains  that  diversity 
which  characterizes  the  religious  opinions  and  practices  of 


A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION. 


73 


mankind.  Few  think  alike,  even  in  the  fundamentals  of  reli- 
gion, and  fewer  still  in  its  details,  because  of  the  difference  in 
their  phrenological  developments. 

Every  phrenological  faculty  constitutes  the  medium,  or,  as 
it  were,  the  colored  glass  through  which  the  mind  looks  at  all 
objects.  As,  when  we  look  at  objects  through  green  glasses-, 
they  look  green,  when  through  yellow  glasses,  they  look  yel- 
low, when  through  dark  shaded  or  smoky  glasses,  they  look 
dark,  gloomy,  or  smoky,  when  through  glasses  that  are  light 
shaded,  they  look  light,  when  through  red  glasses,  everything 
assumes  a red  aspect,  and  that,  too,  whatever  may  be  their 
actual  color — so  the  phrenological  faculties  constitute  the  men- 
tal glasses  through  which  we  look  at  mental  and  moral  objects. 
Thus,  those  in  whom  Acquisitiveness,  or  love  of  money,  pre- 
vails, look  at  everything,  whether  matters  of  science,  religion, 
politics,  business,  etc.,  not  in  the  light  of  philosophy,  or  the 
welfare  of  man,  or  of  right  and  moral  obligation,  but  in 
that  of  dollars  and  cents  alone.  But  he  in  whom  Benevo- 
lence predominates,  looks  at  all  matters,  not  in  the  light  of 
their  effects  on  his  pockets,  but  of  their  bearing  on  the  happi- 
ness of  man.  He  in  whom  Conscientiousness  predominates, 
inspects  and  judges  of  things,  neither  in  the  aspect  of  expe- 
diency, nor  of  their  pecuniary  advantages,  nor  self-interest,  or 
popularity,  but  in  that  of  right  and  duty,  and  abstract  justice. 
But  he  in  whom  Approbativeness  prevails,  seeks  popular  favor, 
and  when  any  new  thing  is  presented  to  his  consideration,  say 
Phrenology,  or  Magnetism,  asks,  as  the  first  and  main  ques- 
tion, not,  “ Is  it  true  V ? nor,  “ Is  it  philosophical  V9  but,  “What 
will  the  folks  say  about  it,  and  about  me  for  embracing  it?” 

The  man  in  whom  reason  predominates  asks,  “ It  it  reason- 
able ? What  are  its  laws  ? Is  it  consistent  with  itself  and 
with  nature  V9  and  looks  at  everything  through  the  glasses  of 
philosophy. 

To  apply  this  fundamental  law  of  mind  to  the  religious 
opinions  of  mankind.  The  moral  faculties  constitute  the 
colored  glasses  through  which  we  look  at  the  Deity  and  his 
moral  government,  as  well  as  at  the  moral  relations  of  man 
to  man.  and  to  his  Maker.  Veneration  worships  God,  yet  the 
7 


74 


BALANCE  OF  FACULTIES 


other  organs  color  our  views  of  his  character  and  attributes. 
Thus  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  had  large  Veneration, 
and  were  very  religious,  but  their  other  moral  organs  were 
small,  and  their  animal  propensities  were  powerful.  Hence 
they  worshipped  gods  of  various  animal  passions.  Their 
large  Veneration,  combining  with  their  very  large  Amative- 
ness, worshipped  Venus,  the  goddess  of  love  and  beauty ; 
combining  with  their  very  large  Combativeness  and  Destruc- 
tiveness, worshipped  Mars,  the  god  of  war,  carnage,  and 
blood ; with  their  powerful  Alimentiveness,  worshipped  Bac- 
chus, the  god  of  feasting,  revelry,  and  wine ; with  their 
large  Acquisitiveness,  worshipped  the  god  Terminus,  who 
guarded  their  boundaries,  and  protected  their  goods  from  pil- 
lage ; with  large  Secretiveness,  worshipped  Mercury,  the  god 
of  cunning,  finesse,  duplicity,  and  theft ; and  thus  of  their 
other  divinities.  But  they  had  fair  intellectual  organs,  as 
well  as  unbridled  passions.  Hence  they  worshipped  Jupiter, 
the  great  director  and  manager  of  the  universe,  and  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  gods,  but  a god  full  of  most  disgusting  amours, 
most  vindictive  and  revengeful,  without  moral  principle,  and 
swayed  by  a power  of  animal  passions  as  much  above  that  of 
mortals  as  he  himself  was  rated  superior  to  them. 

This  fully  established  law  of  mind  shows  sectarians  why 
they  differ  and  quarrel  about  religion.  Their  organs  differ, 
and  this  diversifies  and  distracts  their  religious  views  and 
feelings.  One  sect  has  one  set  of  organs,  or  looks  through 
glasses  of  one  color,  and  another  sect  wears  glasses  of  another 
color,  and  both  are  looking  at  the  same  object  and  quarrelling 
about  its  color.  Accordingly  each  sect  has  its  own  peculiar 
set  of  phrenological  developments,  which  harmonizes  per- 
fectly with  the  peculiarities  of  its  creed.  To  show  minutely 
what  characterize  each,  and  their  departures  from  the  only 
true  standard  of  religious  faith  and  practice  involved  in  this 
principle,  would  be  to  thrust  the  face  into  a hornets  nest 
of  the  worst  character,  which  is  unnecessary ; yet  we  will 
give  a few  illustrations.  Universalists  almost  invariably  have 
large  Veneration,  combined  with  Benevolence  and  Adhesive- 
ness in  predominance  over  Conscientiousness,  with  moderate 


A C0NDI1.0N  OF  PERFECTION. 


75 


Destructiveness,  and  hence  adore  God  for  his  goodness  mainly, 
and  dwell  in  glowing  colors  upon  his  love ; but  the  old-fash- 
ioned Calvinists  usually  have  large  Veneration,  with  full  Self- 
Esteem,  predominant  Firmness,  large  Conscientiousness,  and 
full  or  large  Combativeness  or  Destructiveness,  or  both,  and 
accordingly  adore  the  Sovereignty  and  unbending  justice  of 
God.  Has  not  the  reader  observed  that  the  heads  of  stiff  ortho- 
dox deacons  often  rise  rapidly  from  the  intellectual  organs  to 
Firmness  and  Self-Esteem,  which  indicates  more  Reverence 
than  Benevolence,  and  more  Conscientiousness  than  either, 
with  a tolerably  wide  head  ? But  do  Methodists,  or  Univer- 
salists,  or  Unitarians,  or  Episcopalians,  often  have  this  form 
of  head  ? These  remarks  do  not  apply  to  Congregationalists, 
nor  to  believers  in  the  “ New-SchooP  doctrines,  whose  Con- 
scientiousness is  usually  predominant,  but  Self-Esteem  mod- 
erate, and  Destructiveness  only  full,  and  whose  high-toned, 
or  rather  ultra-Calvinistic  notions  are  materially  softened 
down.  In  them,  Amativeness  is  usually  moderate,  and  ac- 
cordingly they  abhor  no  sin  more  than  its  perversion.  Epis- 
copalians usually  have  large  Veneration,  with  predominant 
Benevolence  and  large  Ideality,  Firmness,  Self-Esteem,  and 
Social  organs,  with  Conscientiousness  not  always  large,  though 
often  full ; and  hence  they  place  their  religion  in  works  of 
charity,  and  in  attending  “the  church,”  rather  than  in  pen- 
itence. They  are  not  as  strict  and  rigid  as  the  orthodox ; 
yet  they  are  always  genteel,  rather  exclusive,  and  eminently 
social.  Nearly  all  their  women  have  superior  heads,  are 
remarkable  for  devotion,  good  sense,  the  domestic  virtues, 
and  especially  for  Benevolence.  The  Quakers  have  no  char- 
acteristic moral  developments,  and  accordingly  allow  their 
members  to  hold  any  and  every  belief,  provided  they  io  thus 
and  so.  Infidels,  deists,  etc.,  usually  have  moderate  Hope, 
small  Veneration,  scarcely  the  least  Spirituality,  large  Benev- 
olence, and  Conscientiousness  variable.  I never  saw  one  of 
infidel  sentiments  who  had  not  a poorly-balanced  moral  head. 

Those  who  have  Conscientiousness  predominant,  with  small 
Veneration  and  Spirituality,  place  their  religion  in  doing 
right,  or  m honesty  and  morality,  but  disregard  the  externals 


76 


BALA.NCE  OF  FACULTIES 


of  religion  ; while  those  in  whom  these  organs  are  reversed 
attend  to  its  outward  forms  and  ceremonies ; but  though  they 
are  devout,  yet  they  are  sometimes  unjust  and  immoral. 
Those  in  whom  Benevolence  predominates  place  their  religion 
in  doing  good,  to  the  neglect  of  other  Christian  duties;  those 
in  whom  Spirituality  is  great,  regard  religion  as  consisting  in 
faith,  and  implicit  reliance  upon  Divine  providence ; hut 
those  in  whom  this  organ  is  small,  do  not  feel  that  awe  of  God, 
that  sense  of  the  Divine  presence  which  this  faculty  inspires, 
but  attribute  all  events  to  cause  and  effect.  But  those  in  whom 
all  these  organs  are  fully  and  evenly  developed  “ put  on  the 
whole  armor  of  righteousness.”  They  do  good,  do  eight, 
worship  their  God,  and  trust  in  his  goodness ; which,  united, 
constitute  the  very  perfection  of  the  Christian  character.  Such 
live  a blameless  life,  worthy  of  admiration  and  imitation  ; 
while  imperfect  religious  faith  and  practice  are  the  natural 
fruits  of  unevenly  developed  moral  organs. 

In  harmony  with  this  principle,  that  each  phrenological  fac- 
ulty stamps  its  impress  upon  the  religious  opinions  of  its  pos- 
sessor, it  follows  that  those  in  whom  all  the  moral  organs  are 
proportionally  developed  will  entertain  consistent  and  cor- 
rect religious  opinions,  and  view  the  character  and  attributes 
of  the  Deity  as  they  are.  Since,  as  already  seen,  Venera- 
tion, with  predominant  Benevolence,  worships  a God  of  kind- 
ness; with  predominant  Conscientiousness,  a God  of  unbend- 
ing justice  ; with  large  Causality,  as  the  great  first  Cause  of 
all  things ; with  large  Self-Esteem  and  Firmness,  as  the  great 
Sovereign  of  the  universe,  immutable,  omnipotent,  unchanging, 
and  unchangeable,  clothed  with  authority,  and  doing  his  own 
will  and  pleasure  in  the  armies  of  heaven  above,  and  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  beneath,  etc.  ; those,  of  course,  in 
whom  Benevolence  is  large  will  worship  him  for  his  great 
goodness  to  the  children  of  men  ; in  whom  Benevolence  and 
Conscientiousness  are  both  equally  large,  as  kind,  but  just; 
and  with  equal  Firmness,  Combativeness,  Destructiveness, 
and  Self-Esteem  added,  as  “ a God  merciful  and  gracious, 
long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  yet  who 
will  by  no  means  clear  the  gudty  ;”  as  perfectly  holy  him- 


A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION. 


77 


self,  and  requir.ng  holiness  in  all  his  creatures;  as  creating 
and  governing  them  with  a wise  reference  to  their  greatest 
ultimate  good  ; and  in  doing  this,  as  rewarding  those  who 
obey  his  laws,  but  as  punishing  those  who  disobey ; or  rather, 
as  infinitely  benevolent,  yet  as  a God  who  will  “ not  let  the 
wicked  go  unpunished with  large  Cautiousness  and  Philo- 
progenitiveness, as  exercising  a fatherly  care  over  his  chil- 
dren, and  providing  a bountiful  supply  for  all  their  wants, 
etc.  Hence,  those  who  have  all  these  organs  fully  developed 
and  evenly  balanced  will  take  all  the  characteristics  of  the 
Deity  into  account,  and  give  each  their  due  proportion  ; be- 
cause the  moral  constitution  of  things  must  necessarily  har- 
monize with  the  moral  character  and  attributes  of  God,  and 
man’s  moral  character,  as  far  as  it  goes,  must  coincide  with 
the  attributes  of  the  Deity.  Consequently,  those  who  possess 
well-balanced  and  perfectly  developed  phrenological  organiza- 
tions, or  have  all  the  faculties  vigorous  and  unperverted208, 
will  take  consistent  and  correct  views  of  the  character,  attri- 
butes, and  government  of  God.  And  the  nearer  our  heads 
approach  to  this  phrenological  standard  of  perfection,  the  more 
correct  will  be  our  moral  feelings  and  conduct,  as  well  as 
religious  opinions  and  worship.  But  the  farther  they  depart 
from  this  standard,  that  is,  the  more  uneven  they  are,  and  the 
more  imperfectly  balanced  the  organs,  the  more  erroneous 
will  be  our  religious  opinions,  and  proportionally  imperfect 
our  moral  conduct  and  worship.  By  the  application  of  this 
principle  to  our  own  heads,  all  of  us  can  see  at  a glance  the 
departures  of  our  own  religious  opinions  and  practices  from 
this  the  true  standard  of  our  nature,  pointed  out  by  Phrenol- 
ogy. Those  in  whom  Veneration  is  moderate  or  small,  think 
too  little  of  divine  things,  and  should  cultivate  the  sentiment 
of  devotion  ; in  whom  Firmness,  Self-Esteem,  Combativeness, 
and  Conscientiousness,  predominate  over  Benevolence,  that  is, 
whose  heads  rise  higher  on  the  back  part  of  the  top  than  on 
the  fore  part  of  the  top,  and  form  a kind  of  apex  near  the 
crown,  entertain  too  austere  notions  of  the  character  and  gov- 
ernment of  God.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  those  in  whom  Be- 
nevolence rises  high,  while  Conscientiousness,  Cautiousness, 


78 


BALANCE  OF  FACULTIES 


and  Destructiveness,  are  only  moderately  developed,  take  the 
other  extreme,  and  regard  God  as  all  kindness,  but  not  retri- 
butive. Those  in  whom  Causality  and  Conscientiousness 
predominate,  and  Veneration  and  Marvellousness  are  only 
moderate  or  small,  are  too  radical,  ultra,  irreverent,  specula- 
tive, and  hypothetical,  and  more  moral  than  pious.  Let  sur;h 
pray  more,  and  theorize  less.  Those  whose  Veneration  is 
larger  than  Reason  should  remember  that  they  are  too  apt  to 
believe  as  they  are  told,  and  require  to  exercise  more  intellect 
along  with  their  religious  feelings.  But  the  principle  is  be- 
fore the  reader.  Let  each  apply  it  accordingly  as  his  develop- 
ments may  require,  and  let  all  profit  by  the  great  lesson  here 
taught.  By  this  standard — this  moral  formula — any  and 
every  one  of  us  should  test  our  religion,  and  then  should  both 
cultivate  the  deficient  moral  organs,  and  also  put  intellect  over 
against  our  warped  and  contracted  feelings.  By  analyzing 
the  phrenological  faculties,  intellect  can  and  should  inform  us 
what  is  the  true  or  normal  standard  of  religious  belief  and 
practice,  and  to  this  standard  let  all  conform.  Then  will  sec- 
tarianism hide  its  many  heads,  and  “ all  see  eye  to  eye.” 
Then  will  all  embrace  the  same  doctrines  of  truth,  and  “ do 
works  meet  for  repentance.”  “ He  that  is  wise  is  wise  for 
himself.” 

This  same  principle  of  balance  applies  equally  to  the  intel- 
lectual faculties.  When  they  are  all  large,  the  judgment  is 
good  in  regard  to  all  subjects,  but  deficiency  in  any  of  them 
impairs  it  in  regard  to  the  functions  of  those  that  are  feeble. 
Thus,  let  a picture  be  hung  up  for  inspection,  those  who  have 
Size  large,  and  all  the  other  intellectuals  small,  though  they 
will  judge  accurately  of  its  proportions,  and  derive  pleasure 
from  admiring  them,  yet  all  its  other  qualities  will  be  unseen, 
unadmired,  and  their  pleasure  in  beholding  it  proportionably 
restricted.  But  those  who  have  Form  also  large,  will  observe 
and  admire  its  likeness  as  well  as  its  proportions,  and  thus 
be  doubly  delighted  ; and  those  who  have  large  Color  added, 
will  also  be  delighted  with  the  beauty  of  its  colors,  and  the 
richness  and  delicacy  of  its  tints  and  shades,  which  will  triple 
their  pleasure.  Add  large  IdealLy,  and  they  will  discover 


A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION. 


79 


what  without  it  they  would  not  have  seen,  the  beauty,  rich- 
ness, and  those  other  qualities  of  the  picture  which  appeal  to 
this  faculty. 

The  proverb  that  we  judge  others  by  ourselves,  is  m har- 
mony with  this  principle,  and  illustrates  it.  Thousands  of 
times  in  my  professional  practice,  when  I have  ascribed  to  a 
man  some  strong,  ruling  passion,  say  love  of  praise,  and  de- 
scribed him  as  excessively  sensitive  to  praise  and  reproach, 
“ And  so  is  every  one,”  is  the  usual  reply.  Perhaps  the  next 
subject  has  small  Approbativeness  and  large  Self-Esteem,  and 
of  course  is  described  as  not  caring  a straw  for  the  opinions  of 
others ; “ Well,  who  does  ? for  I am  sure  I don’t,”  or  “ He’s 
a fool  who  does,”  is  apt  to  be  the  response.  What  we  love, 
desire,  hate,  etc.,  we  are  almost  sure  to  think  others  love,  de- 
sire, or  hate. 

Those  who  have  large  Eventuality  only,  will  learn  and  re- 
member events,  including  history,  news,  and  the  like,  yet  little 
else  ; those  who  have  only  Locality  large,  will  learn  geo- 
graphy, and  recollect  places,  but  nothing  else ; those  who 
have  Form  large,  the  shape  of  things  ; Calculation  alone  large, 
will  excel  in  mental  arithmetic,  but  be  poor  in  everything 
else ; those  whose  Causality  predominates  will  think  much, 
and  investigate  first  principles,  yet  be  poor  in  other  things. 

Those  whose  perceptive  powers,  which  give  the  various 
kinds  of  memory  and  the  ability  to  collect  and  retain  knowl- 
edge,  greatly  predominate  over  their  reflectives,  though  they 
may  be  very  apt  as  scholars  and  talkers,  yet  they  will  be 
superficial,  lack  thought,  judgment,  and  contrivance,  and  be 
incapable  of  ascending  from  facts  up  to  the  first  principles 
which  govern  them ; and,  on  the  other  hand,  those  whose  per- 
ceptives  are  small,  but  reflectives  predominate,  will  have 
wretched  memories,  be  unable  to  command  their  knowledge, 
or  bring  their  talents  to  bear  upon  practical  matters  ; be  given 
merely  to  speculative,  scholastic,  abstract,  therefore-and-where- 
fore,  metaphysical  theorizing,  which  is  valueless ; and  though 
they  may  know  how  to  reason,  yet  their  knowledge  of  facts 
will  be  too  limited  to  furnish  data  sufficient  to  form  correct 
inductions.  But  where  both  classes  of  faculties  are  powerful 


80 


BALANCE  i!F  FACULTIES 


and  eqully  balanced,  the  former  will  collect  abundant  ma- 
terials, which  the  latter  will  work  up  intp  correct  arguments 
and  sound  conclusions,  possess  versatility  of  talents,  sound 
common  sense,  great  strength  combined  with  great  correctness 
of  intellect,  and  be  endowed  with  well-balanced  and  truly  philo- 
sophical minds,  and  gifted  with  the  true  Baconian,  inductive 
method  of  studying  nature,  by  ascending  from  facts  up  to  first 
principles— the  most  conclusive  and  correct  means  of  arriving 
at  truth  430.  This  cast  of  development  is  not  only  perfectly 
adapted  to  the  laws  of  nature,  and  harmonizes  with  the  con- 
stitution of  the  human  mind,  but  it  also  imparts  what  is  called 
sound  and  correct  judgment,  and  takes  enlarged  views  of 
subjects ; while  its  absence  causes  the  intellectual  lameness, 
warped  views,  and  fallacious  and  diversified  opinions  which 
exist  among  mankind. 

Those  who  have  large  Language,  with  weak  reasoning  facul- 
ties, talk  much  but  say  little  ; have  words  in  great  abundance 
and  variety,  but  few  ideas ; and  therefore  experience  and 
communicate  but  little  pleasure  ; for  who  wishes  to  listen  to 
senseless  prattle  ? On  the  other  hand,  those  who  have  Lan- 
guage small,  with  strong  reasoning  powers,  will  have  excel- 
lent ideas  and  much  valuable  matter  to  communicate,  yet  be 
barren  in  expression  ; their  rich  mines  of  thought  will  remain 
buried  for  want  of  Language  in  which  to  express  them,  and 
the  pleasure  and  profit  of  listening  to  them  be  proportionally 
abridged.  But  those  who  have  Language  and  the  redectives 
both  large,  will  experience  double  pleasure,  both  in  thinking 
and  in  communicating  their  glowing  thoughts  in  rich,  expres- 
sive language,  and  thereby  administer  much  pleasure  and 
profit  to  their  delighted  listeners. 

But  the  power  and  importance  of  this  principle  of  balance 
are  greatly  augmented  when  applied  to  the  various  combina- 
tions of  the  faculties.  Thus,  to  have  predominant  Cautious- 
ness is  bad,  but  to  have  it  combined  with  small  Hope,  is  much 
worse  ; because  it  causes  the  most  gloomy  apprehensions  and 
fearful  forebodings,  and  shuts  out  every  ray  of  expectation 
which  large  Hope  would  throw  in  upon  perpetual  darkness. 
Excessive  Approbativeness  added,  creates  the  strongest  desire 


A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION. 


81 


for  approval,  mingled  with  a constant  dread  of  incurring  cen- 
sure, and  no  hope  of  obtaining  that  commendation  so  much 
desired — a most  unhappy  state  of  mind.  Large  Veneration, 
and  small  Self-Esteem  and  Combativeness,  added  to  this  com- 
bination, produce  the  most  oppressive  diffidence,  accompanied 
with  that  confusion  and  utter  want  of  self-possession  which 
prevent  any  one,  however  talented  or  deserving,  from  accom- 
plishing much,  or  even  from  enjoying  intercourse  with  men, 
and  also  cause  pusillanimity,  and  even  cowardice.  Bu< 
when  these  faculties  are  equally  balanced,  large  Approba- 
tiveness,  will  aspire  to  distinction ; strong  Hope,  expect  that 
praise  which  Approbativeness  desires ; large  Self-Esteem, 
will  impart  enough,  but  not  too  much,  of  that  “ modest  assur- 
ance75 requisite  to  push  its  possessor  forward  ; and  large  Com- 
bativeness nerve  him  for  contest  with  every  difficulty,  and 
give  vigor  and  efficiency  to  all  he  says  and  does.  And  when 
this  balance  is  still  farther  perfected  by  large  intellectual  or- 
gans, they  give  the  requisite  talents  and  high  moral  character 
which  impart  moral  worth,  and  sanctify  ambition,  elevate 
motives,  and  ennoble  the  whole  character ; so  that  such  will 
be  every  way  calculated  to  enjoy  life  themselves,  and  to  be- 
come blessings  to  mankind.  But  let  either  of  these  faculties 
be  much  stronger  or  weaker  than  the  others,  and  their  enjoy- 
ment will  be  proportionally  marred,  and  usefulness  dimin- 
ished. 

Though  predominant  Acquisitiveness,  which  predisposes  to 
dishonesty,  covetousness,  and  a miserly  selfishness  and  mean- 
ness, and  also  its  deficiency,  which  allows  extravagance  and 
diminishes  industry,  are  each  adverse  to  virtue  and  happiness, 
yet  the  evil  is  greatly  magnified  by  its  combinations.  Thus, 
those  who  have  small  Acquisitiveness  combined  with  large 
Benevolence  will  give  away  so  lavishly  to  every  apparently 
needy  sufferer  as  to  leave  nothing  for  themselves,  and  no  cap- 
ital with  which  to  make  more  to  enable  them  to  aid  future 
sufferers,  or  even  to  live.  Large  Adhesiveness  increases  the 
evil,  by  causing  them  to  ruin  themselves  by  helping  their 
friends,  and  by  exciting  commiseration  for  those  whom  they 
desire,  but  are  unable,  to  relieve ; whereas,  if  Acquisitiveness 


82 


BALANCE  OF  FACULTIES 


had  been  as  large  as  Benevolence  and  Adhesiveness,  th^y 
would  have  gratified  the  former  by  acquiring  property,  yet 
have  retained  enough  to  live  comfortably,  and  continue  busi- 
ness in  order  to  make  more ; and  the  latter,  by  giving  the 
balance  to  relieve  friends  and  sufferers.  This  would  have 
more  than  doubled  their  pleasures,  besides  preventing  that 
distress  occasioned  by  bestowing  their  all,  and  that  per  naps 
upon  unworthy  objects.  But  those  in  whom  Acquisitiveness 
predominates  over  Benevolence  may,  indeed,  experience  a 
sordid  pleasure  in  making  money,  but  are  strangers  to  the 
exquisite  satisfaction  which  accompanies  works  of  charity, 
because  predominant  Acquisitiveness  holds  in  its  iron  grasp 
the  means  of  gratifying  Benevolence  by  giving,  prevents  Ad- 
hesiveness from  entertaining  friends ; Ideality  from  having 
nice  things,  and  indulging  refined  taste;  the  Intellectual  Fac- 
ulties from  purchasing  books,  and  taking  time  to  think  and 
study;  Philoprogenitiveness  from  spending  money  in  educa- 
ting and  improving  children  ; Locality  and  Sublimity  from 
travelling ; Conscientiousness  from  paying  debts,  and  freely 
discharging  all  pecuniary  obligations ; Hope  from  investing 
capital  in  what  promises  pleasure  to  the  other  faculties; 
Adimentiveness  from  indulging  in  table  luxuries ; and  thus 
abridges  most  of  the  enjoyments  of  life,  besides  preying  ulti- 
mately upon  itself  by  grudging  every  farthing  expended,  and 
giving  its  possessor  a world  of  trouble  for  fear  of  losing  his 
possessions.  A few  facts  as  examples. 

About  twenty  miles  from  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  there 
lived  an  old  miser,  worth  twenty  thousand  dollars,  who  al- 
lowed his  only  daughter  to  live  destitute  of  every  comfort, 
dressed  only  in  clothes  coarse  and  shabby,  almost  starved, 
and,  finally,  even  to  go  to  the  poor-house,  because  he  was  too 
miserly  too  support  her.  The  combination  of  very  large 
Acquisitiveness  and  Cautiousness  with  large  Hope  produces 
a state  of  mind  truly  deplorable.  We  were  brought  up  near 
an  old  miser,  named  George  Rogers,  who  had  this  combina- 
tion, and  who,  besides  burying  his  money  in  different  places, 
watched  it  the  whole  of  dark  and  stormy  nights,  and  suffered 
everything  from  the  fear  of  being  robbed.  Mr.  Green,  a car- 


A CONDITION  OF  PERFECTION. 


83 


penter,  in  Norfolk,  Va.,  has  Acquisitiveness  so  strong  that  he 
lives  upon  spoiled  meat,  cold  victuals,  and  such  ends  of  the 
table  as  he  can  get  for  nothing ; and  is  an  old  bachelor,  be- 
cause too  stingy  to  marry,  though  worth  some  twenty  thousand 
dollars. 

A miser  in  Philadelphia,  worth  almost  half  a million,  h.'reu 
his  children,  whenever  he  can,  to  go  t?  bed  supperless  for  a 
penny  a-piece,  which  he  steals  from  them  when  asleep.  He 
seldom  provides  decent  edibles  for  the  other  meals,  and  used 
to  give  his  children  the  old  watermelons  left  over  of  his  sales 
till  they  had  become  stale. 

The  combination  of  predominant  Acquisitiveness  with  small 
Cautiousness,  by  speculating  too  largely  and  grasping  at  enor- 
mous profits,  often  loses  all,  as  by  speculating  in  village  lots, 
mulberry  trees,  e*tc. ; besides  often  contracting  debts  beyond 
the  means  of  payment,  inducing  a perpetual  series  of  difficul- 
ties, and,  if  Conscientiousness  be  also  small,  prompting  to  dis- 
honest and  unprincipled  conduct.  Moderate  Causality  added? 
tries  a variety  of  ill-advised  ways  and  means  to  get  rich,  but 
fails  in  all,  and  is  tantalized  with  improper  desires,  which 
cannot  be  gratified,  and  so  grasps  at  one  straw  after  another, 
only  to  sink  into  deeper  poverty  and  more  hopeless  disappoint- 
ment. 

But  when  these  organs  are  equally  developed,  Acquisitive- 
ness desires  property,  and  prompts  energetic  efforts  to  acquire 
it ; Hope  creates  due  enterprise,  and  feasts,  but  not  to  excess, 
upon  unfolding  prospects ; Conscientiousness  is  gratified  by  the 
payment  of  all  dues  ; and  Cautiousness  and  Causality  combine 
foresight  and  prudence  with  that  judicious  application  of  ap- 
propriate means  to  the  end  desired,  which  crown  effort  with 
success.  This  combination  secures  the  harmonious  exercise 
and  unalloyed  gratification,  not  only  of  all  these  faculties,  but 
also  of  all  the  others  if  similarly  balanced. 

Those  who  have  predominant  Self-Esteem,  combined  with 
large  Firmness,  Combativeness,  and  Destructiveness,  and  only 
moderate  Conscientiousness,  Approbativeness,  and  intellectual 
faculties,  will  be  self-sufficient,  proud,  haughty,  imperative, 
overbearing,  dictatorial,  obstinate,  insolent,  supremely  selfish 


84 


BALANCE  OF  FACULTIES. 


and  revengeful  toward  all  who  do  not  obey  their  unreasonable 
demands  and  submit  to  become  their  servants,  and  yet  they  will 
have  too  feeble  intellects  to  support  these  high-sounding  preten- 
sions ; but  those  who  have  all  these  organs  equally  developed 
—large  Self-Esteem,  to  impart  dignity  and  nobleness  of  char- 
acter, so  that  they  cannot  be  trifled  with,  combined  with  large 
intellectual  organs,  to  impart  the  strength  of  mind  requisite 
fully  to  sustain  their  high  claims,  of  which  Dr.  Caldwell  fur- 
nishes a good  example  ; large  Conscientiousness,  to  add  moral 
worth  to  intellectual  greatness  ; and  large  Firmness  and  Com- 
bativeness, to  impart  perseverance,  moral  courage,  and  energy 
of  character— will  duly  respect  themselves  for  their  moral  and 
intellectual  qualities  alone,  and  combine  the  man  and  the 
gentleman  with  superior  intellectual  abilities  and  high-toned 
moral  principles,  and  thus  enjoy  life  themselves,  and  promote 
the  happiness  of  all  around. 

Other  still  more  striking  illustrations  of  the  importance  of  this 
balance  of  the  faculties  might  be  drawn  from  the  social  fac- 
ulties ; and  others  still  from  every  phrenological  and  phys- 
ical element  of  man.  But  why  enlarge  upon  a principle, 
the  necessity  and  value  of  which  are  so  self-evident — a prin- 
ciple thus  clearly  shown  to  be  so  powerful  and  universal  in 
its  application  as  to  be  inseparably  interwoven  with  the  nature 
and  happiness  of  every  human  being  ? Have  we  not  already 
shown  why  and  how  well-balanced  intellect  is  so  superior  to 
the  same  amount  of  intellect  unbalanced— how  the  moral  fac- 
ulties, when  harmoniously  developed  and  exercised,  produce 
that  moral  feeling,  that  true  piety,  which  constitute  the  grace 
of  graces — the  crowning  excellence  of  man,  and  especially  of 
woman — as  well  as  that  this  endless  diversity  in  the  religious 
fai'.h  and  practice  of  mankind  which  disgraces  modern  Chris- 
tianity, and  makes  so  many  infidels,  is  caused  by  a want  of 
this  balance  ? Indeed,  words  cannot  express  its  value  and  im- 
portance. Hence,  should  not  parents  and  teachers,  in  edu- 
cating the  young  and  moulding  their  characters,  physical, 
intellectual,  and  moral,  and,  indeed,  all  who  seek  health,  long 
life,  happiness,  or  self-improvement,  be  guided  by  it  as  their 
polar-star,  and  make  it  the  nucleus  around  which  all  their 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION  OF  THE  ORGANS. 


85 


efforts  to  remedy  defects  and  cultivate  virtues  should  clus- 
ter? 


213.  PROOF  THAT  THE  ORGANS  CAN  BE  ENLARGED  OR  DIMINISHED. 

When  Phrenology  first  came  up  before  the  author’s  mind 
for  examination,  he  saw  at  a glance  that  in  case  its  organs 
were  capable  of  being  enlarged  and  diminished,  it  disclosed 
the  greatest  discovery  of  this  age  or  any  other — the  means  of 
improving  the  mind  and  perfecting  the  soul.  Consequently, 
this  single  point  engrossed  much  of  his  early  as  well  as  recent 
inquiries  ; and  all  his  subsequent  observations  have  tended  to 
confirm  the  glorious  truth,  that  small  organs  can  be  enlarged 
and  excessive  ones  diminished,  even  in  adults.  No  : man 
is  not  compelled  to  carry  all  his  faults,  excesses,  and  defects 
to  his  grave.  Though  the  tendency  of  the  large  organs  is  to 
become  larger,  and  of  the  small  ones  to  become  still  more  di- 
minutive, on  the  principle  that  “to  him  that  hath  shall  be 
given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundantly,  but  from  him  that 
hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath”— though  the 
larger  an  organ  the  greater  the  pleasure  taken  in  its  exercise, 
and  therefore  the  more  spontaneous  and  continual  that  exer- 
cise, which  naturally  re-increases  its  size  and  activity ; while 
the  smaller  an  organ  the  less  pleasure  is  taken  in  its  action, 
and  hence  the  less  it  is  exercised,  so  that  it  becomes  diminished 
by  inaction — yet  this  tendency  can  be  counteracted,  and  the 
power  of  any  required  faculty  be  increased  or  diminished  at 
pleasure.  That  great  changes  often  take  place  in  the  charac- 
ter is  a matter  of  daily  observation  and  experience.  But  can 
the  phrenological  organs  also  be  increased  and  diminished  ? 
Can  so  soft  a substance  as  the  brain  enlarge  and  contract  so 
hard  a substance  as  the  skull  ? “ Impossible,”  says  one.  “ I 

must  see  that  point  proved  before  I believe  it,  much  as  I am 
inclined  to  such  belief,”  say  others.  To  this  important  point, 
then,  we  address  our  first  inquiry — the  possibility  and  evi- 
dences of  such  enlargement. 

To  show  that  the  enlargement  of  the  skull  is  not  impossible, 
that  it  is  even  not  so  very  difficult  as  its  cursory  observation 
leads  us  to  suppose  is  first  in  order.  The  skull  is  not  that 


86 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION 


hard,  unimpressible  substance  in  the  living  subject  which  it  is 
found  to  be  in  the  dried  skeleton.  Nor  is  the  matter  of  which 
it  is  composed  stationary,  but,  like  that  of  all  the  other  por- 
tions of  the  system,  it  is  undergoing  constant  change  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave.  Its  old  and  useless  matter  is  perpetually 
taken  up  and  carried  off,  while  new  deposits  are  continually 
going  on,  so  as  to  allow  all  the  latitude  and  opportunity  for  a 
change  of  skull  required  by  any  amount  of  cerebral  diminu- 
tion or  increase. 

Besides,  is  not  its  office  to  serve  the  brain  ? Which  is  the 
subject,  which  the  lord  ? To  subserve  the  purposes  of  the 
brain,  and  through  it  of  the  mind,  was  every  organ  of  the  en- 
tire body  created  19 ; and  shall  the  skull  form  the  only  excep- 
tion ? Is  it  not  rather  the  highest  confirmation  of  this  law  ? 
We  may  rest  fully  assured  that  nature  will  never  allow  the 
skull  to  interfere  with  any  required  development  or  function 
of  the  brain  or  mind,  but  rather  that  it  promotes  both.  Shall 
the  shells  of  the  oyster,  lobster,  turtle,  alligator,  and  all  the 
crustacse,  allow  the  perfect  development  and  easy  growth  of 
the  mass  within,  and  shall  not  a similar  provision  be  made  for 
the  unimpeded  growth  of  an  organ  as  much  more  important  as 
the  brain  ? This  enlargement  is  not  effected  by  the  mechani- 
cal pressure  of  the  brain  upon  the  skull,  any  more  than  the 
bark  of  trees,  but  by  the  natural  process  of  growth  and  forma- 
tion. As  the  skins  of  growing  animals  do  not  become  larger 
by  being  stretched  by  the  mechanical  pressure  of  the  flesh 
upon  all  parts — for  this  would  require  an  immensely  powerful 
force — but  grow  and  shrink  with  the  growth  and  diminution 
of  the  inclosed  mass,  so  the  skull  yields  and  shrinks  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  increase  and  diminution  of  the  brain  within. 

Another  means  by  which  nature  allows  this  cerebral  en- 
largement wherever  it  is  required,  is,  by  rendering  the  skull 
thin  above  that  portion  or  organ  of  the  brain  enlarged,  while 
the  diminution  of  the  latter  thickens  the  former.  Our  phre- 
nological collection  contains  twenty  or  more  skulls  which 
establish  this  fact,  and  none  known  to  militate  against  it.  A 
physician  in  Weschester  co.,  Pa.,  kindly  presented  the  skull 
of  a female,  respectably  connected,  who,  in  spite  of  the  en- 


OF  THE  ORGANS. 


87 


treaties  of  her  friends,  had  voluntarily  abandoned  herself  to 
the  unrestrained  indulgence  of  Alimentiveness  and  Amative- 
ness, and  whose  skull  is  so  very  thin  as  to  be  transparent 
where  those  organs  are  located,  but  not  elsewhere.  That  of 
John  Earl,  who  murdered  his  wife,  and  who  was  given  to  the 
unrestrained  and  habitual  indulgence  of  both  these  passions,  is 
also  thin  in  the  same  places.  So  is  that  of  Burley — presented 
by  Mr.  Harris,  treasurer  of  the  London  District,  U.  C- — a 
volunteer  in  the  burning  of  the  Caroline.  This  Burley  armed 
himself  for  the  purpose,  and  deliberately  shot  the  sheriff  who 
arrested  him  for  stealing  a young  bullock  and  killing  it  for 
food.  He  was  an  habitual  drunkard,  and  excessively  licen- 
tious, and  yet  by  turns  extremely  given  to  prayer  and  religious 
exercise  ; an  explanation  of  the  seeming  anomaly  of  which 
Phrenology  alone  gives.  One  of  his  religious  seasons  imme- 
diately preceded  his  execution.  When  swung  off,  the  rope 
broke.  During  the  consequent  delay  he  proposed  to  have  a 
season  of  prayer,  and  was  himself  earnestly  engaged  in  sup. 
plicating  the  Divine  blessing  when  the  sheriff  interrupted  him 
to  re-adjust  the  rope. 

L.  N.  Fowler  has  the  skull  of  a slave,  so  notorious  for  his 
propensity  to  steal,  that  after  he  had  been  repeatedly  whipped 
almost  to  death  for  stealing,  but  to  no  purpose,  on  the  perpe- 
tration of  a new  theft,  his  master  seized  an  axe  and  struck  it 
through  his  skull  into  the  brain,  exclaiming : “ I will  break 
you  of  stealing,  if  I have  to  kill  you.”  He  lived,  but  still 
continued  to  steal ; and  his  skull  is  remarkably  thin  and 
transparent  at  Acquisitiveness  and  Secretiveness.  The  skull 
of  another  slave,  noted  for  kindness,  is  thin  where  Benevolence 
is  located. 

He  has  also  the  skull  of  a woman,  who,  from  being  a moral 
and  virtuous  member  of  society,  and  a consistent  and  exem- 
plary professor  of  religion,  became  a self-abandoned  outcast, 
and  grossly  immoral,  yet  was  passionately  fond  of  music.  It 
is  thin  where  Amativeness,  Combativeness,  and  Tune  are 
located,  but  thickened  upon  the  top  in  the  region  of  the  moral 
organs.  We  will  gladly  show  those  of  our  readers  who  visit 
us,  these  and  many  other  similar  proofs  and  illustrations  of 


88 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION 


the  fact  tha.  <!he  exercise  of  organs  absorbs  the  portions  of  the 
skull  which  covers  them,  so  as  to  render  them  thin ; while 
inaction,  and  also  excessive  action,  reduce  their  size,  and 
allow  the  skull  to  become  thick.  Indeed,  this  point  has  be- 
come fully  established,  and  although  it  prevents  our  observing 
the  whole  of  this  increase  caused  by  the  exercise  of  organs, 
still  it  shows  how  such  increase  and  decrease  can  take  place. 

Again,  does  not  the  whole  head  continue  to  enlarge  till 
after  thirty  ? Is  not  this  an  admitted  fact?  Then  is  not  the 
inference  conclusive  that,  since  the  resistance  of  the  skull 
does  not  prevent  the  enlargement  of  the  brain  as  a whole,  it 
will  surely  allow  any  part  of  it  to  become  enlarged  ? 

Phrenology,  moreover,  demonstrates  the  fact  that  the  brain 
is  composed  of  particular  organs,  each  of  which  exercises  a 
special  function.  Hence,  since  the  exercise  of  every  organ 
causes  a flow  of  blood  to  that  organ  in  proportion  to  the  vigor 
and  continuance  of. that  exercise82,  therefore,  the  vigorous 
and  continuous  action  of  any  faculty,  as  of  Benevolence, 
Causality,  or  Combativeness,  causes  a proportional  flow  of 
blood  to  its  particular  organ,  which  blood  is  freighted  with 
matter  which  it  deposits  wherever  it  goes,  and  in  proportion 
to  its  abundance.  This  causes  each  organ  to  enlarge  in  pro- 
portion to  the  exercise  of  its  faculty.  This  law  of  increase, 
by  and  in  proportion  to  action,  and  of  decrease  by  inaction,  is 
familiar  in  its  application  to  the  hands  of  sailors  and  laborers, 
to  the  feet  of  dancers  and  pedestrians,  to  the  chests  of  rowers, 
the  muscles  of  the  laboring  classes  compared  with  those  of  the 
puny  c‘  upper  tens,”  the  right  hand  as  compared  with  the 
left,  and,  indeed,  to  every  portion  of  the  body.  Does,  then, 
the  brain  form  the  only  exception  to  this  law  ? Is  it  not  a 
part  of  the  body,  and  therefore  governed  by  all  those  physio- 
logical laws  which  govern  the  physiology  ? How  unphilo- 
sophical  and  absurd  such  supposed  exception  ! Besides,  it  is 
an  established  fact  that  the  heads  of  the  literary  classes  are 
larger  than  those  of  laborers,  because  exercised  more.  Then 
since  the  exercise  of  the  brain,  as  a whole,  causes  its  gross 
enlargement,  why  should  not  the  exercise  of  any  of  its  parts 
cause  the  enlargement  of  itir  particular  organ  in  proportion 


OF  THE  ORGANS. 


89 


to  that  exercise  ? Why  should  not  that  flow  of  blood  to  the 
several  organs  exercised  cause  the  deposit  of  those  materials 
with  which  it  is  freighted,  and  so  occasion  their  enlargement 
in  proportion  as  they  are  exercised  ? At  least,  it  is  for  the 
disputants  of  this  doctrine  to  show  that  this  law  does  not  apply 
to  the  brain,  since  we  know  it  does  to  all  the  other  portions  of 
the  body.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  to  enlarge  and  to  diminish 
the  size  of  the  phrenological  organs,  both  by  the  skull  becom- 
ing thin,  and  by  the  actual  protrusion  of  the  skull  itself. 

That  the  skull  retires  as  the  organs  decrease  may  also  be 
doubted ; but  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  pressure  of  ihe 
external  atmosphere  is  sufficiently  great  to  depress  anything 
in  the  least  flexible,  and  of  course  the  skull  whenever  the  in- 
ternal pressure  is  removed  by  the  decline  of  the  organs  within. 
Such  retiring  is  true  of  the  other  bones  of  which  that  of  the 
accompanying  zigomatic  arch  is  an  example.  That  arch, 
located  just  forward  of  the 
ears,  binds  the  masticatory 
muscles.  One  of  these  arches 
in  the  accompanying  engra- 
ving is  shrunk  in,  while  the 
other  is  full,  and  the  teeth 
on  the  side  of  the  mouth  on 
which  the  arch  is  depressed 
were  all  gone  in  both  jaws, 
but  good  on  the  opposite  side 
in  which  the  arch  is  full. 

On  dissection,  the  masticato- 
ry muscle,  on  the  side  where 
there  were  no  teeth,  was 
small,  on  the  other  side  larger, 
evidently  because  the  for- 
mer had  little  action,  and 
the  latter  a double  share  of 
it.  And  since  the  brain  is 
governed  by  t he  same  laws,  why  should  not  its  bones  advance 
and  retire  in  accordance  with  the  demands  of  the  organs 
beneath  ? 


• No.  2.  Zigomatic  Arch. 


8' 


90 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION 


Having  shown  both  the  possibility  of  an  enlargement  of  the 
organs,  and  also  how  it  can  take  place,  we  next  proceed  to 
demonstrate  this  point  by  facts.  In  1835,  Mr.  Bailey,  of 
Manchester,  England,  took  from  life  a bust  of  the  Rev.  John 
Pierpont,  of  Boston.  In  1841,  we  took  from  life  a bust  of  the 
same  head.  The  latter  shows  a decided  increase  of  the  whole 
intellectual  lobe  over  the  former.  This  increase,  an  accurate 
eye  detects  instantly,  because  the  latter  is  deeper,  broader, 
higher,  and  every  way  more  ample  than  the  former.  Benev 
olence  and  Combativeness  are  larger,  while  Cautiousness  is 
smaller  in  the  latter  bust.  The  cause  of  this  increase  of  some 
organs,  and  decrease  of  others,  is  to  be  found  in  the  vigorous 
and  almost  continual  exercise  of  his  intellectual  faculties  in 
the  composition  of  poetry,  for  which  he  has  become  justly  cel- 
ebrated ; in  lectures  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  truth,  and 
freedom ; as  well  as  in  his  severe  and  protracted  intellectual 
and  moral  contest  with  the  rum-sellers  of  his  congregation. 
When  odes  and  poems  are  wanted  on  occasions  like  the  death 
of  Spurzheim,  or  Harrison,  or  any  national  or  local  jubilee, 
Rev.  John  Pierpont  furnishes  the  best.  His  unremitted  labors 
in  the  temperance  cause  ; the  number,  power,  and  eloquence 
of  his  lectures  on  various  subjects ; the  logical  clearness  and 
cogency  of  his  letters  to  his  vestry,  evince  a powerful  and  con- 
tinuous exercise  of  his  intellectual  faculties  sufficient  to  cause 
and  account  for  the  increase  of  his  intellectual  organs,  as  well 
as  of  Benevolence  and  Combativeness,  and  the  decrease  of 
Cautiousness. 

This  case  establishes  our  position  beyond  a doubt.  Both 
busts  were  taken  when  he  was  upwards  of  forty-five,  and  so 
taken  that  the  manner  of  taking  could  cause  none  of  this  strik- 
ing difference.  This  case  is  clear  and  unequivocal,  and  sub- 
ject to  the  inspection  of  all  who  wish  to  examine  copies. 

J.  G.  Forman,  a phrenologist,  took  a mask  of  a woman  in 
Sing  Sing  prison,  who,  from  a^hild  had  seen  with  the  right 
eye  only,  and  whose  perceptive  organs  on  the  left  side  were 
much  larger  than  those  on  the  Hght.  My  first  glance  at  the 
mask  disappointed  me,  for  Calculation  and  Order  were  equal 
on  both  sides.  But  a second  glance  actually  electrified  me 


OF  THE  ORGANS. 


91 


with  delight,  because  it  revealed  the  fact  that  Individuality, 
Form,  Size,  and  Locality,  the  functions  of  which  are  exercised 
mainly  by  means  of  the  eye,  were  much  larger  on  the  side 
opposite  the  seeing  eye  than  the  same  organs  over  the  seeing 
eye  ; while  the  organs  of  Order,  Calculation,  and  Weight, 
which  can  act  as  well  without  the  aid  of  the  eye  as  with  it,  or 
at  least,  as  well  with  one  eye  as  both,  were  alike  on  both  sides. 
This  difference  is  most  striking.  Locality  rises  nearly  half 
an  inch  on  the  left  side,  above  the  same  organ  on  the  right. 
Size,  on  the  left  side,  has  both  elevated  and  protruded  the  inner 
portion  of  the  left  eyebrow  about  half  an  inch,  while  Language, 
Comparison,  and  Causality  are  equal  in  both.  This  mask  can 
also  be  inspected.  The  principle  of  crossing  involved  in  this 
case  is  established,  by  a great  amount  and  variety  of  evidence, 
to  be  a physiological  ordinance  of  nature,  and  might  have  been 
easily  foretold. 

In  our  collection  may  be  seen  two  masks  of  Oldham,  ma- 
chinist to  the  Bank  of  England,  taken  by  Spurzheim  twenty 
years  apart.  The  last,  after  he  became  celebrated  through- 
out Europe  for  his  mechanical  and  inventive  powers,  shows  a 
breadth  at  Constructiveness  greater  than  the  first  by  nearly  an 
inch,  while  the  other  organs  remained  nearly  stationary. 
Spurzheim  exhibited  these  masks  in  Boston  to  prove  the  possi- 
bility of  enlarging  the  organs — a favorite  doctrine  with  him. 
On  this  point  this  truly  great  man,  in  that  most  excellent 
work  on  “ Education  founded  on  the  Nature  of  Man/5*  re- 
marks as  follows : — 

“ It  may  be  asked,  whether  exercising  the  affective  and  intellec- 
tual powers  makes  the  respective  organs  increase.  Each  part  of 
the  body,  being  properly  exercised,  increases  and  acquires  more 
strength.  The  fact  is  known  to  be  so  with  respect  to  the  muscles 
of  woodcutters,  smiths,  runners,  etc.  Now  the  brain  and  its  parts 
are  subject  to  all  the  laws  of  organization;  they  are  nourished  like 
the  arms  and  legs.  Cerebral  activity,  therefore,  determines  the 
blood  toward  the  head,  in  the  same  way  as  the  blood  is  carried  to 
any  other  part  when  irritated,  and  this  law  of  the  organization  may 
enable  us  to  account  for  the  development  of  certain  parts  of  the 
brain  of  whole  nations,  and  to  explain  national  characters,  if  indi- 

* For  sale  by  Fowlers  & Wells,  131  Nassau-street,  New  York.  Price 
75  cents.  Mailable. 


92 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION 


vidual  powers  are  cultivated  during  successive  generations.  1 can 
speak  with  certainty  from  repeated  observations.  The  changes  of 
cerebral  development,  when  the  individual  powers  are  exercised, 
or  kept  quiet,  are  astonishing.  In  the  former  case  individual  organs 
increase,  and  in  the  latter  they  not  only  stand  still  in  growth,  but 
sometimes  become  absolutely  smaller.” 

The  bearing  of  these  facts  is  positive  and  direct.  They 
prove,  beyond  all  dispute,  the  possibility  of  enlarging  the  size 
of  organs  by  exercising  their  faculties,  as  well  as  of  the  re- 
quired protrusion  of  the  skull,  and  hence  prepare  the  way  for 
evidence  less  positive  in  its  character,  which,  without  this  as 
an  entering  wedge,  would  be  comparatively  valueless.  They 
demonstrate  the  point  now  under  consideration,  which,  once 
established,  may  now  be  illustrated  and  enforced  by  an  order 
of  evidence  too  low  in  itself,  satisfactorily  to  prove  it. 

Deville’s  cabinet  in  London,  contains  about  seventy  busts 
which  establish  and  illustrate  this  point.  Caldwell  brought 
over  with  him  some  fourteen  of  them,  and  says  that  this  in- 
crease of  organs  is  placed  beyond  a doubt  by  these  and  othei 
specimens.  Dr.  Carpenter,  of  Pottsville,  Pa.,  and  Prof.  Bry- 
ant, of  Philadelphia,  and  many  others  who  have  seen  these 
casts,  bring  a similar  report  of  them.  One  of  these  changes 
occurred  in  the  head  of  Herschel,  the  great  astronomer.  The 
likeness  of  him  copied  into  “ Memory/5  from  an  English  en- 
graving, said  to  be  the  best  ever  taken,  shows  enormous  per- 
ceptive organs  in  the  length  and  arching  of  his  eyebrows  414, 
and  bears  evidence  of  its  having  been  taken  when  he  was 
about  seventy  ; whereas,  a mask  of  him  now  in  our  collection, 
evidently  taken  when  about  forty,  shows  only  a fair  develop- 
ment of  these  organs. 

Some  time  ago  we  wrote  to  M.  B.  Sampson,  our  London 
correspondent,  to  forward  us  copies  of  Deville’s  specimens 
illustrating  this  point,  and  hoped  to  have  received  them  before 
we  republished  this  work.  The  following,  while  it  explains 
the  cause  of  their  delay,  gives  encouragement  of  their  recep- 
tion : — 

“Bank  of  England,  Feb.  3,  1842. 

“ In  the  course  of  a week  or  two,  I shall  procure  from  Mr 
Deville  the  casts  which  you  require,  and  will  send  them  to  you 


OF  THE  ORGANS. 


93 


without  delay.  You  would  have  received  them  ere  this,  but  Mr. 
Deville  has  been  confined  by  indisposition.”* 

Changes,  similar  to  those  already  described,  took  place  in 
the  head  of  Franklin,  except  that  his  reflectives  increased,  but 
perceptives  diminished.  The  accompanying  engraving  of 
him,  copied  from  a portrait  taken  when  he  wals  a youngmian, 


No.  3.  Young  Franklin. 

found  in  his  life  published  by  Hillard  & Grey,  Boston,  rep- 
resents the  perceptives  as  very  large,  and  Causality  retir- 
ing, so  as  to  leave  his  forehead  narrow  and  sloping  at  the 

* These  casts  were  received,  but,  not  being  aware  of  their  reception, 
they  were  sold  at  the  custom-house  to  pay  charges.  If  this  should  meet 
the  eye  of  their  purchaser,  we  should  be  most  happy  to  see  him. 


94 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION 


top,  but  evinces  prodigious  Individuality,  Form,  Size,  Lo- 
cality, and  Eventuality,  and  large  Comparison,  with  only  fair 
Causality. 

The  author  has  also  a plaster  bust  of  him,  cast  from  a mar- 
ble bust  made  in  France  by  Houdon,  whose  accuracy  in 
sculpturing  is  too  well  known  to  require  comment.  In  this 
bust,  chiselled  after  a mask  taken  from  Franklin’s  face,  and 
said  to  be  a perfect  likeness  of  him  at  that  time,*  his  percep- 
tives  and  reflectives  are  both  large,  the  perceptives  rather 
predominating,  but  reflectives  prominent.  But  in  the  statue 


CAUSALITY  VERY  LARGE. 


tafcen  of  him  when  old,  and  placed  in  a niche  in  the  Franklin 
Library  in  Fifth-street,  near  Chesnut,  Philadelphia,  Causality 
and  Comparison  stand  out  in  the  boldest  relief,  while  Individu- 
ality and  Eventuality  are  small.  Most  of  the  busts  and  en- 
gravings of  this  great  philosopher  found  in  shops,  books,  etc., 

* This  original  marble  bust  was  recently  purchased  by  some  scientific 
body  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  original  mask  taken  from  his  face  was 
recently  sold  in  France,  among  other  effects  of  Houdon,  for  about  two 
dollars,  and  taken  to  Italy.  Will  not  some  American  artist  or  traveller  in 
Ttaly  procure  this  original,  or  a copy? 


OF  THE  ORGANS. 


95 


represent  him  as  old,  &.'d  evince  predominant  reflective  organs, 
Dut  deficient  perceptives,  as  seen  in  the  accompanying  en- 
graving. See  also  the  portrait  of  him  in  Peale’s  museum. 

Our  next  inquiry  relates  to  the  existence  or  absence  of  a 
corresponding  change  in  his  intellectual  character.  Of  this, 
all  are  allowed  to  judge  for  themselves;  but  was  not  young 
Franklin  remarkable  for  observation,  memory  in  general, 
desire  to  acquire  knowledge,  especially  of  an  experimental 
character,  and  facility  of  communication  ; while  old  Frank- 
lin was  all  reason  and  philosophy,  rich  in  ideas,  full  of  pithy, 
sententious  proverbs,  which  are  only  the  condensation  of 
Causality,  and  always  tracing  everything  up  to  its  causes  and 
laws,  but  less  inclined  to  observe  and  remember  facts  as  such  ? 

This  conclusion  is  endorsed  by  the  natural  language  of 
his  organs — an  unfailing  index  of  the  true  character.  Young 
Franklin  is  represented  as  throwing  the  lower  or  perceptive 
portion  of  his  forehead  forward,  which  evinces  their  predomi- 
nance ; while  old  Franklin,  as  seen  in  cut  No.  4,  throws 
the  reflective  organs  forward,  as  if  in  the  attitude  of  deep 
thought.  This  shows  young  Franklin  to  have  been  what 
his  portrait,  taken  when  he  was  young,  evinces,  namely,  a 
great  observer;  but  old  Franklin  to  have  been  a profound 
reasoner,  a characteristic  just  shown  to  appertain  to  his  later 
busts  and  portraits. 

The  likenesses  of  Bonaparte,  as  stamped  upon  coins  of  dif- 
ferent dates,  show  a decided  enlargement  of  his  forehead, 
especially  of  his  reflective  organs,  as  he  advanced  in  years. 
This  difference  is  very  great ; and,  if  exercise  enlarges  the 
organs,  surely  those  of  no  other  man  could  be  enlarged  faster. 

Let  us  now  enter  another  field  of  inquiry,  to  see  if  we  ob- 
tain similar  results  from  another  class  of  observations  still 
more  general.  Stone-cutting,  and  especially  lettering,  requires 
a vigorous  and  intense  exercise  of  Form,  Srze,  and  Locality  ; 
and,  accordingly,  stone-cutters  all  have  these  organs  large. 
For  the  correctness  of  these  remarks,  appeal  is  made  to 
observation. 

Net  one  farmer,  mere  .ant,  or  business-man  in  fifty,  is  fo  und 
to  possess  Weight  abore  moderate,  while  nearly  all  the  sea- 


96 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION 


faring  men  I have  ever  examined,  have  had  this  organ  fully 
developed,  along  with  large  Form  and  Locality,  and  usually 
large  Order  and  Calculation.  The  reason  is  obvious.  This 
organ  keeps  the  balance  445  ; and,  since  the  perpetual  motion 
of  a ship  is  continually  destroying  this  balance,  Weight  is  kept 
unceasingly  active  to  regain  and  preserve  it,  especially  when 
in  the  rigging.  Their  Form  is  brought  into  frequent  and 
vigorous  action  by  looking  for,  and  watching,  ships,  land,  etc., 
in  the  distance ; and  Locality,  by  remembering  the  beds  of 
rivers,  the  navigable  parts  of  harbors,  the  localities  of  rocks, 
shoals,  and  the  position  of  things,  and  by  remembering  the 
looks  of  various  parts,  as  well  as  by  practical  geography  in 
general.  In  machinists,  engineers,  and  those  who  work  about 
machinery,  this  organ  is  usually  large,  and  also  in  billiard 
players,  expert  marksmen,  good  riders,  and  the  like,  while  or- 
dinary mechanics,  not  connected  with  machinery,  usually  have 
it  small,  except  those  whose  occupation  requires  climbing.  In 
females,  Weight  is  seldom  developed ; yet,  in  factory  girls  it 
is  unusually  large.  Constructiveness  is  found  to  be  large  in 
nearly  all  weavers. 

At  Adams,  Mass.,  in  1834,  I was  struck  with  the  fact  that 
ail  the  weavers  examined  had  large  Continuity  233,  an  organ 
below  par  in  ninety  American  females  in  every  hundred.  The 
same  results  have  been  observed  in  every  factory  I have  since 
visited.  At  Young’s  factory,  in  Delaware,  in  1839,  I selected 
some  fifty  weavers  from  those  employed  in  other  occupations, 
with  but  a single  failure,  and  that  on  a subject  of  thirty 
five,  who  had  been  weaving  only  fifteen  months — too  short  a 
period,  at  this  age,  fully  to  develop  this  organ.  The  reason 
is  obvious;  namely,  that  weaving  keeps  the  whole  mind  ex- 
clusively occupied  upon  one  and  the  same  thing,  day  after 
day,  and  year  after  year.  This  will  serve  as  a valuable  hint 
to  those  who  wish  to  improve  this  organ  234.  Englishmen  and 
Germans  generally  have  this  organ  large,  while  it  is  small 
in  most  Americans,  which  corresponds  with  their  national 
habits.  The  former  usually  devote  themselves  exclusively  to 
one  study  or  occupation,  and  can  make  a living  at  no  other, 
while  the  versatile  talents  of  the  latter  enable  them  to  turn 


OF  THE  ORGANS. 


97 


their  hands  to  almost  any  and  every  thing  with  success.  So 
strongly  marked  is  this  national  characteristic  that  it  is  a great 
national  fault,  and  renders  us  as  a class  next  to  superficial ; 
nor  have  I ever  seen  it  as  small  in  the  heads  of  any  other 
nation  as  in  our  own. 

Inhabitiveness  is  almost  universally  large  in  those  who  have 
lived  in  one  house  till  fifteen  years  old,  but  small  in  those  who 
moved  during  childhood.  In  thousands  of  instances,  when  ex- 
amining the  heads  of  children,  I have  said  to  their  parents,  “ I 
perceive  you  have  moved  since  the  birth  of  this  child,  or  else 
it  has  lived  from  home and  do  not  remember  ever  to  have 
failed  more  than  a few  times,  in  which  cases  hereditary  in- 
fluences prevailed  over  the  exercise  of  the  organ.  The  rea- 
son is  this : Inhabitiveness  becomes  attached  to  the  homestead 
where  one  has  lived — to  the  domicil  in  which  we  are  reared, 
and  the  surrounding  trees,  stones,  etc. ; but  removing  disturbs 
this  attachment,  and  weakens  the  organ232. 

I have  examined  many  blind  persons  without  finding  one 
in  whom  Color  is  even  fairly  developed.  As  this  faculty  is 
exercised  by  means  of  the  eye,  it  is  not  surprising  that  its  not 
being  exercised  keeps  its  organ  small. 

The  deaf  and  dumb  converse  mainly  by  signs,  or  by  act- 
ing out  what  they  want,  that  is,  by  imitating.  They  are  the 
best  actors  of  pantomime,  and  the  best  mimics,  to  be  found. 
This  continual  exercise  of  Imitation  doubtless  causes  this 
universal  predominance  of  this  organ  in  them. 

In  nearly  every  Scotchman,  Causality  and  Conscientious- 
ness will  be  found  to  be  large,  which  is  in  keeping  with  their 
reasoning  so  much  upon  moral  and  doctrinal  subjects.  For 
additional  facts  of  this  class,  see  the  chapter  on  this  subject  in 
“ Fowler’s  Phrenology,”  p.  365. 

Probably  not  one  New  York  city  lady  in  twenty  has  Ac- 
quisitiveness above  moderate  ; while  a large  proportion  of  Yan- 
kee women  have  this  organ  full  or  large.  The  latter  are  taught 
industry  from  the  cradle;  but  whether  this  is  true  of  the  for= 
mer,  we  leave  others  to  judge.  In  southern  ladies,  also,  this 
organ  is  usually  small.  Constructiveness  is  much  larger  at 
the  north  than  at  the  south,  and  in  manufacturing  towns  than 
9 


98 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION 


in  those  classes  that  are  too  good  to  work141.  After  examin- 
ing ten  heads  in  any  place,  I can  usually  tell  the  general 
character  of  its  inhabitants ; whether  they  are  proud,  secre- 
tive, acquisitive,  moral,  ingenious,  or  whatever  other  dominant 
characteristic  they  may  possess.  Every  community  has  a 
distinctive  character  as  much  as  every  person.  This  is  easily 
solved  by  supposing  that  their  original  founders  had  certain 
faculties  predominant,  which,  by  being  continually  exercised, 
excited  the  same  in  all  new  comers,  and  thus  developed  the 
corresponding  organs,  and  thereby  stamped  the  impress  of 
their  own  minds  upon  all  around  them.  Other  causes,  how- 
ever, doubtless  aid  in  bringing  about  this  result. 

This  principle  explains  in  part,  and  corresponds  with,  the 
fact  that  lawyers  and  politicians  have  large  Language,  Com- 
bativeness, and  Comparison,  namely,  because  their  vocation 
brings  these  faculties  into  constant  action  ; and  also  shows 
why  the  religious  denominations  have  each  a characteristic 
set  of  developments212,  etc.,  though  this  is  doubtless  caused  in 
part  by  hereditary  descent. 

Granted  that  these  and  similar  facts,  if  weighed  by  them- 
selves in  the  scales  of  inductive  reason,  would  be  light,  and 
might  not  >even  cause  it  to  preponderate  in  their  favor,  yet, 
thrown  into  the  same  balance  with  those  drawn  from  the  busts, 
they  add  much  weight  to  a scale  already  weighed  down  with 
more  conclusive  proof. 

But  another  class  of  facts,  more  unequivocal,  is  found  in 
examinations  of  the  same  head,  made  at  different  periods.  As 
the  public  have  given  the  author  some  credit  for  correct 
examinations,  they  will  doubtless  place  some  reliance  upon 
the  summary  result  of  his  observation,  which  is  that  every 
year’s  practice  increases  his  astonishment  at  the  number  and 
extent  of  these  changes — a few  of  which  he  will  narrate. 

In  1836  I examined  a subject  whose  Veneration  was  only 
three,  at  the  same  time  putting  his  finger  into  the  marked  depres- 
sion between  Firmness  and  Benevolence,  and  exhorting  him  to 
be  more  religious.  He  was  examined  again,  unknown  to  me, 
in  1842,  and  his  Veneration  marked  large,  the  depression  to 
which  his  attention  was  called  in  1836  being  entirely  filled 


OF  THE  ORGANS. 


99 


up.  He  then  stated  that  he  became  a praying  man  soon  after 
the  first  examination,  and  had  continued  so  ever  since.  He 
called  mainly  to  inquire  if  becoming  religious  could  have 
caused  the  change  in  his  developments,  which  he  had  ob- 
served for  the  last  two  years. 

The  head  of  Mr.  S.,  of  R.,  was  examined  in  1835,  and 
he  described  as  so  eminently  religious  that  the  whole  ex- 
amination turned  upon  this  point.  In  1841,  I re-examined 
him  without  knowing  him,  and  the  moment  I touched  his  head, 
exclaimed  : “ Infidel,  irreligious,  utterly  destitute  of  belief,” 
etc.  At  the  first  examination  he  was  a very  consistent  pro- 
fessor of  religion,  and  zealously  engaged  in  promoting  revi- 
vals ; but,  soon  after,  he  became  a disbeliever,  and  at  length 
a confirmed  infidel,  so  that  he  was  expelled  from  the  church, 
not  for  immoral  conduct,  but  solely  on  the  ground  of  his 
infidelity. 

In  1836,  a young  man  of  considerable  intelligence  stated 
that,  when  a boy,  he  had  a schoolmate,  exactly  his  age,  size, 
and  height,  so  that  their  clothes  and  hats  perfectly  fitted  each 
other ; that  his  young  friend  went  to  West  Point,  and  he  to  a 
mechanical  trade ; that  when  his  friend  had  graduated,  they 
met,  and  again  changed  hats ; that  his  friend’s  hat,  instead 
of  fitting  his  head  as  before,  was  too  large  in  the  forehead  and 
too  small  over  the  temples,  while  his  hat  pinched  the  forehead 
of  the  cadet,  but  was  loose  over  Constructiveness,  which 
showed  an  increase  of  the  intellectual  organs,  particularly  of 
the  reflective,  in  the  cadet,  whose  studies  called  these  facul- 
ties into  powerful  action,  and  an  increase  of  Constructiveness 
in  the  head  of  the  mechanic. 

Eventuality  is  always  very  large  in  Jews,  doubtless  because 
they  were  required  to  tell  the  Lord’s  doings  to  their  children 
and  grandchildren  ; in  doing  which  they  powerfully  exercis-e 
their  Eventuality483.  The  same  is  true  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indians,  who  perpetuate  their  history  in  the  memories  of 
the  rising  race. 

In  the  children  of  the  rich,  Acquisitiveness  is  almost  inva- 
riably small.  Having  every  want  supplied,  and  therefore  no 
occasion  for  the  exercise  of  this  faculty,  its  organ  becomes 


100 


ENLARGEMENT  AND  DIMINUTION 


small  from  mere  disuse — a beautiful  proviso,  truly,  against 
accumulating  immense  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  few. 

In  nearly  every  soldier  and  inferior  officer  among  hundreds 
examined  in  Canada,  I found  predominant  Firmness,  Self-Es- 
teem, Amativeness,  and  Alimentiveness,  and  large  to  very 
large  Combativeness,  Destructiveness,  Hope,  and  perceptive 
faculties,  with  smaller  Causuality,  and  deficient  Conscientious- 
ness and  Acquisitiveness — the  very  organization  which  their 
occupation  would  produce  if  this  law  of  increase  by  exercise, 
and  decrease  by  inaction,  be  true.  They  cultivate  a bold,  dar- 
ing, reckless  spirit ; drink  and  carouse  daily  ; and  have  no 
occasion  to  exercise  Acquisitiveness,  because  their  food,  rai- 
ment, etc.,  are  furnished,  while  their  pay  is  regular,  with 
scarcely  a possibility  of  being  increased.  All  their  associa- 
tions blunt  Conscientiousness,  and  excite  their  passions.  Pos- 
sibly men  with  this  organization  seek  the  army,  yet  more 
probably  military  associations  enlarge  and  diminish  the  devel- 
opments. 

This  argument  for  the  increase  of  organs  by  exercise,  de- 
rives additional  force  from  its  beautiful  harmony  with  many 
analogous  facts.  In  one  of  the  examinations,  reported  in  the 
Journal,  a fact  was  related  to  show  that  the  intense  and  con- 
tinuous action  of  organs,  turned  the  hair  above  them  gray.  In 
confirmation  of  which  scores  of  similar  ones  could  be  adduced, 
accompanied  with  names  and  dates.  Another  article,  written 
by  a Canadian  correspondent,  showed  that  the  excitement  of 
any  given  faculty  causes  an  itching  or  tickling  sensation  of 
its  organ.  In  another,  it  was  shown,  that  the  recent  activity 
of  faculties  could  always  be  detected  by  the  sharpness  of  their 
organs,  etc. 

Every  reader,  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  observe,  will 
find,  that  when  any  of  his  faculties  have  been  called  into  un- 
usual activity,  their  organs  feel  as  if  crawling,  or  disturbed,  oi 
feverish,  or  heated,  according  to  the  kind  and  exten  of  the 
excitement.  Observe  your  own  mental  exercises,  in  connec- 
tion with  your  cerebral  sensations,  and  you  will  daily  be 
more  and  more  surprised  at  the  numerous  and  striking  coinci- 
dences of  this  character.  Those  who  think,  write,  study,  lec- 


OF  THE  ORGANS. 


101 


ture,  etc.,  much,  will  frequently  put  their  hands  to  their  fore- 
heads; while  those  who  are  fond  of  family,  and  much  at 
home,  when  they  sleep  away  from  their  families,  will  involun- 
tarily put  their  hands  upon  the  back  of  their  heads  where  the 
social  group  is  located. 

President  Mahan,  of  Oberlin,  to  whom  all  must  concede  a 
highly  excited  state  of  the  moral  faculties,  when  he  was 
preaching  in  New  York,  often  put  his  hands  on  the  top  of  his 
head.  In  short,  this  principle  of  the  increase  of  organs  by 
exercise,  will  be  found  to  harmonize  most  strikingly  with  all 
the  facts,  and  classes  of  facts,  which  bear  upon  it. 

Again,  we  know  that  marked  changes  of  character  often 
take  place.  If,  therefore,  this  principle  of  a corresponding 
change  of  organs  did  not  obtain,  Phrenology  could  not  be 
true,  because  it  would  be  at  war  with  the  known  operations  of 
nature  ; yet  since  character  is  known  to  change,  this  concur- 
ring capability  of  changing  the  developments  furnishes  a 
powerful  argument  in  favor  of  its  truth. 

That  the  power  of  all  the  faculties  can  be  astonishingly  en- 
hanced— that  every  species  of  memory,  judgment,  and  all  the 
moral  virtues  are  capable  of  being  improved  illimitably — the 
main  thing  desired  after  all — is  a matter  of  universal  observa- 
tion and  experience ; and  that  Phrenology  proves  the  possi- 
bility of  enlarging  their  organs,  shows  that  it  corresponds  with 
nature,  and  is  therefore  true. 

Let  it  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  this  increase  in  size 
is  proportionate  to  the  increased  power  of  function.  The  in- 
ci  eased  facility  of  action,  as  remarked  by  Spurzheim,  is  far 
greater  than  that  of  bulk.  The  organs  become  more  and  still 
more  supple,  sprightly,  vigorous,  and  flexible,  as  well  as  en- 
during and  easily  excited  ; and  this  is  the  great  source  of  the 
increased  power  of  function.  The  blood-vessels  also  become 
enlarged  so  that  the  blood  flows  through  the  organs,  and  there- 
by augments  their  power,  action,  and  endurance  407. 

And  now,  inquiring  reader,  after  summing  up  the  evidences 
in  support  of  tl  is  capability  of  improving  the  organs  and  facul- 
ties, say,  is  it  not  only  probable,  but  absolutely  certain  ? Is 
ii  not  of  a character  so  conclusive  that  you  may  safely  rest 


102 


INCENTIVES  TO  SELF-IMPROVEMENT. 


on  this  result  1 And  since  you  can,  how  glorious  the  prospect 
it  thus  opens  before  you  ! Into  how  delightful  a field  of  labor 
does  it  usher  you  ! Man  naturally  loves  to  effect  improve- 
ments. How  great  the  pleasure  of  clearing  land  of  forests 
and  stones,  of  securing  crops,  and  having  fruit-trees  grow  and 
bear  abundant  yields ; of  progressing  in  buildings,  business, 
machinery,  and  whatever  we  undertake  ! But  how  utterly  in- 
significant all  this  compared  with  the  improvement  of  intel- 
lect, and  building  up  a magnificent  spiritual  temple  out  of 
those  god-like  materials  of  which  humanity  is  composed  ! I 
rejoice  in  all  terrestrial  and  material  improvement : it  fulfils 
an  ordinance  of  nature  201  203  203  204 ; but  O with  what  inexpres- 
sible delight  does  progression — my  own  and  that  of  others — in 
talents  and  goodness,  fill  my  soul  ! To  see  man  rise  from 
the  ashes  of  sloth  and  degradation,  and  soar  on  the  wings  of 
improvement  toward  heaven,  and  become  more  and  more  like 
angels  and  like  God  ! O this  is  the  most  delightful  sight 
mortals  are  permitted  to  behold — the  most  glorious  work  in 
which  they  can  engage  on  earth  or  in  heaven  ! To  such  a 
result,  thank  God,  I am  allowed  to  contribute.  And  what  in- 
tense delight  it  affords  me.  To  engage  in  obviating  human 
weaknesses,  maladies,  and  sufferings,  and  in  exterminating 
those  evils  and  vices  which  afflict  my  brother  man,  to  admin- 
ister a sovereign  panacea  for  all  the  ills  flesh  is  heir  to,  and 
help  build  that  magnificent  human  temple  now  in  slow  but 
sure  process  of  erection,  and  carry  my  race  onward  and 
upward  toward  that  angelic  destiny  in  store  for  it  205 — this, 
O this  is  the  great  desire  of  my  soul,  the  great  labor  of  my 
life.  To  subserve  an  end  thus  glorious — to  tell  those  who 
would  know,  how  to  curb  wayward  passions  and  quench  sin- 
ful desires,  how  to  cultivate  weak  faculties,  and  live  in  accord- 
ance with,  and  up  to  the  exalted  endowments  and  capabilities 
of  their  nature — were  these  pages  written.  Yes,  my  fellow- 
men,  we  can  carry  our  improvement  to  a far  greater  pitch  of 
perfection  and  power  than  any  of  us  suppose.  Shall  we  not 
bow  that  we  may  reap  such  a harvest  ? Or  will  we  fold  our 
arms,  and  allow  ourselves,  sluggard-like,  to  wither  and  die  of 
pure  inanition  ? Shall  not  a prospect  of  self-improvement  thus 


APPEAL  TO  PARENTS. 


303 


certain,  thus  glorious,  inspire  our  hopes,  and  create  the  firm 
resolve  to  put  forth  every  effort  within  our  power  to  progress  as 
high  in  the  scale  of  improvement  as  our  natural  capabilities 
will  allow  ? — and  this  will  be  high  indeed.  Then  let  us  be  up 
and  doing.  Why  bury  our  talents  in  the  earth  ? Why  not 
improve  till  called  hence,  so  that  the  due  occupancy  of  our  re- 
spective talents  here,  shall  fit  us  to  receive  a far  more  exalted 
trust  hereafter  ? 

But  it  is  to  parents  that  this  increase  of  organs  holds  out 
by  far  the  brighest  star  of  promise.  To  enlarge  the  defi-  ^ 
cient  organs  of  children  is  comparatively  easy,  and  the  ear- 
lier culture  is  applied  the  greater  the  harvest  of  improvement 
it  yields.  O how  should  we  literally  exult  in  being  allowed 
to  accelerate  the  progress  of  our  own  dearly  beloved  offspring? 
And  shall  we  sleep  over  such  a work— a labor  of  love  in 
which  angels  should  be  delighted  to  engage  ? O parents,  we 
do  not  duly  love  our  children.  We  scarcely  begin  to  do  our 
duty  to  them.  We  strive  and  toil  to  leave  them  “ well  off  in 
the  world,”  yet  do  we  not  most  shamefully  and  wickedly  neg-  < 
lect  their  highest  good— the  cultivation  of  their  moral  nature  ? 

We  are  ever  ready  to  lavish  time  and  money  upon  their  per- 
sons, and  spend,  though  scantily,  upon  their  intellectual  edu- 
cation, yet  strangely  and  blindly  neglect  the  proper  regulation 
of  their  feelings. 

The  plain  fact  is.  parents  do  not  know  where  to  begin,  or 
now  to  proceed.  They  stand  ready  to  do  if  they  knew  what 
and  how.  They  grope  their  way  in  dim  twilight,  yet  the  day- 
star  has  risen.  Phrenology  shines  with  noon-day  lustre  on  u 
the  philosophy  and  laws  of  mind,  and  shows  how  to  improve 
it.  We  proceed  to  investigate  its  directions  to  parents,  and  to 
all.  Do  you  eagerly  ask  how  can  this  enlargement  be  ef- 
fected ? How  can  so  glorious  a boon  be  secured  ? By 

214.  THE  PERSONAL  EXERCISE  OF  THE  FACULTIES. 

The  attainment  of  so  great  a good  might  be  expected  to  be 
proportionally  intricate  and  difficult.  Not  so.  Like  every 
other  operation  of  nature,  it  is  simple  and  easy.  Like  eat- 
ing  and  breathing,  and  looking,  to  acquire  this  greatest  of 


104 


EXERCISE  OF  FACULTIES 


treasures  is  itself  a pleasure.  We  are  required  neither  to 
wash  in  Abana,  Pharpar,  or  Jordan,  nor  to  go  on  a pilgrim- 
age to  Mecca,  nor  perform  a crusade  to  Jerusalem,  nor  waste 
our  substance  in  sacrifices,  or  on  teachers.  We  are  not 
obliged  even  to  abridge  a single  pleasure,  not  even  of  a 
worldly  nature,  but,  in  and  by  affecting  this  very  progression, 
are  allowed  the  largest  normal  gratification  of  all  our  various 
powers.  The  greater  the  right  exercise  of  all  our  faculties, 
the  better.  Indeed,  such  exercise  is  the  great  instrumentality 
of  such  improvement.  Action  is  the  great  means  of  strength- 
ening every  power  of  our  nature.  True,  a right  system  of 
diet  will  aid  much,  and  a wrong  system  effectually  retard. 
That  certain  kinds  of  food  are  constitutionally  adapted  to  de- 
velop certain  powers  both  of  body  and  mind,  was  shown  in 
“ Physiology’5  32  161 . We  should,  therefore,  take  the  right  kinds 
and  quantities  of  food,  and  keep  our  bodies  in  the  best  possible 
condition  for  mental  action.  This  done,  it  only  remains  for 
us  to  exercise  the  faculties  we  would  strengthen.  All  other 
means  without  this  will  be  futile.  The  sluggard  can  never 
improve.  He  must  necessarily  deteriorate.  Inaction  always 
weakens.  Swing  up  your  arm  or  foot  for  months,  and  they 
become  feeble  in  consequence.  The  less  we  do,  the  less  we 
are  inclined  to  attempt ; whereas  the  more  we  do,  the  more 
we  can  accomplish.  True,  we  may  overdo.  The  brain,  like 
every  other  portion  of  the  body,  can  be  overtaxed,  and  thereby 
exhausted165.  Fitful  action  is  liable  to  produce  this  effect. 
So  is  powerful  cerebral  action,  when  other  portions  of  the  sys- 
tem, especially  the  stomach,  are  overloaded,  and  the  brain 
robbed  of  energy  to  help  discharge  the  load78.  Powerful  men- 
tal action  along  with  over-eating  or  working,  or  with  deficient 
sleep,  or  disease,  is  most  injurious162.  Yet  in  all  such  cases 
the  evil  is  caused,  not  by  extra  mental  application,  but  by  the 
other  excess,  but  for  which  even  far  greater  cerebral  action 
would  not  only  not  injure,  but  would  actually  benefit. 

So  also  fitful  cerebral  action,  like  exercise  after  long-con 
tinued  confinement,  is  very  injurious;  yet  that  the  evil  is  not 
caused  by  over-action  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  a far 
greater  amount  of  moderate,  diffused  action  could  have  been 


ENLARGES  THEIR  ORGANS. 


105 


endured  with  profit  and  pleasure.  Nor  does  fitful  action  ever 
effect  much.  Success  in  all  pursuits  requires  long-continued, 
stable,  persevering  action.  All  nature’s  operations  are  grad- 
ual. The  sun  does  not  burst  suddenly  upon  our  earth,  nor 
go  down  instantaneously,  but  rises  and  sets  gradually,  be- 
sides being  preceded  and  succeeded  by  slowly-increasing  and 
diminishing  twilight.  Vegetation  does  not  spring  up  and 
mature  in  a day,  but  requires  time.  As  the  physical  and 
mental  powers  are  developed  by  slow  gradations  from  infancy 
to  maturity206,  so  progression  in  knowledge  and  goodness  must 
be  effected  by  patient  and  continuous  application.  Unlike 
Jonah’s  gourd,  all  our  virtues,  all  our  powers,  are  brought  to 
complete  maturity  only  by  effort,  begun  with  the  beginning 
of  life,  and  continued  unintermittingly  through  adolescence, 
maturity,  and  old  age,  up  to  its  final  termination  in  a natural 
death206  236.  Not,  however,  that  we  must  sow  a lifetime  in 
order  to  reap,  but  we  reap  as  we  sow.  Unlike  spending  the 
prime  of  life  in  amassing  wealth,  in  order  to  retire  in  the  after- 
noon of  our  days  to  enjoy  it,  we  here  enjoy  as  we  go  along. 
The  very  effort  to  improve  ourselves  is  the  most  delightful — 
not  labor,  but — pleasure  in  which  we  can  engage,  besides  all 
the  happiness  consequent  on  the  improvement  effected.  Nor 
can  self-improvement  possibly  be  effected  without  bringing 
along  with  it  this  double  reward ; for  it  consists  in  obeying 
the  laws  of  our  being,  and  this  always  causes  happiness6. 
The  normal  action  of  every  function  of  our  nature  is  pleas- 
urable108. This  is  nature’s  universal  economy1.  Hence  that 
very  action  which  secures  improvement,  also  causes  enjoy- 
ment. In  and  by  the  very  act,  therefore,  of  rendering  our- 
selves better,  we  promote,  in  the  most  effectual  manner  pos- 
sible, that  happiness  for  which  alone  we  were  created,  and 
alone  should  live.  Nor  need  we  fear  of  doing  too  much,  so 
that  we  do  right,  any  more  than  of  being  too  happy.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  normal  action  gives  pleasure,  and  as  all  enjoy- 
ment consists  in  such  action,  therefore  the  more  we  exercise 
our  faculties  the  better,  because  the  greater  our  progress  and 
happiness.  We  often  overdo,  relatively,  yet  rarely  absolutely. 
We  ofter  overwork  one  particular  part  of  the  system  because 


106 


EXERCISE  OF  FACULTIES 


we  fail  to  exercise  the  others  proportionally.  W e often  bring 
on  disease  and  premature  death,  by  exercising  one  organ  or 
class  of  organs  so  much  more  than  the  others.  Thus,  seden- 
taries  may  induce  nervousness  by  over  mental  application  in 
conjunction  with  muscular  inaction,  and  perhaps  over-eating 
added ; whereas,  if  they  ate  and  exercised  right,  they  could 
have  put  forth  ten  times  as  much  mental  action,  not  only  with 
impunity,  but  with  benefit ; so  that  the  evil  was  caused,  not 
by  overdoing,  but  by  disproportionate  action212.  Yet  inac- 
tion162, not  over-action,  produced  the  evil. 

Not,  however,  to  dwell  longer  on  these  and  kindred  qualifi- 
cations, the  great  instrumentality  of  all  improvement  is  assid- 
uous, powerful,  and  well-directed  action.  Fear  not  about 
overdoing.  Thrust  iron  after  iron  into  the  fire — the  more 
the  better — and  then  hammer  away  so  resolutely  and  faith- 
fully as  to  let  none  burn.  Exercise  this  faculty,  and  that, 
and  the  other,  as  powerfully  and  as  continuously  as  possible. 
Idleness  clothes  mind  in  rags  as  well  as  body,  whereas  vigor- 
ous effort  alone  can  array  it  in  the  robes  of  happiness  and 
heaven  ; and  he  who  does  most  and  best,  enjoys  most. 

The  reason  why  the  exercise  of  the  faculties  enlarges 
their  organs  and  strengthens  their  powers,  is,  that  it  causes  an 
increased  flow  of  blood  to  them,  just  as  that  of  the  arm  or  foot 
does.  That  same  law  by  which  the  exercise  of  the  lungs, 
muscles,  and  physical  organs  augments  their  volume  and  en- 
ergy, as  shown  in  “ Physiology” 166,  applies  equally  to  the 
brain  as  a -whole,  and  to  each  of  its  organs,  and  is,  in  fact,  a 

LAW  OF  THINGS. 

The  inference,  then,  is  obvious,  that  self-improvement  can 
be  effected  only  by  personal  exertion.  A pearl  of  so  great 
price  cannot  be  bought.  Nor  can  it  be  obtained  by  proxy, 
nor  yet  inherited,  except  in  its  rudiments ; but  it  must  be  cul- 
tivated, and  by  every  one  for  himself.  As  no  one  can  eat, 
breathe,  live,  or  die  for  another,  but  as  all  must  move,  see, 
exist,  etc.,  in  their  own  appropriate  persons,  so  all  must  ex- 
ercise their  faculties,  and  effect  this  improvement  for  their  own 
selves,  and  not  for  another.  Teachers  cannot  learn  for  their 
scholars,  but  can  only  show  them  how  to  learn.  Parents  can 


ENLARGES  THEIR  ORGANS. 


107 


not  become  good  or  great  for  their  children  any  more  than  die 
in  their  stead.  All  they  can  do  is  to  provide  these  children 
with  the  requisite  facilities  and  incentives — to  place  stimulants 
before  their  minds  just  as  they  place  food  before  them.  It 
remains  for  the  latter  to  partake  of  the  mental  as  of  the  phys- 
ical banquet  thus  spread  before  them. 

And  how  many,  mistaking  the  provision  for  the  partaking, 
relying  on  the  possession  of  books  and  advantages,  instead  of 
the  study  of  the  one  and  the  improvement  of  the  other,  neg- 
lect both  and  starve,  mentally,  surrounded  by  a perfect  glut  of 
the  means  of  improvement.  In  fact,  parents  often  commit  a 
great  error  in  doing  too  much  for  their  children.  How  many 
slavish  mothers  have  spoiled  their  children  by  extra  tender- 
ness and  doing  everything  for  them,  when  they  should  be 
compelled  to  do  for  themselves,  or  else  to  go  without.  But  we 
shall  expatiate  upon  kindred  points  under  Combativeness  and 
Self-Esteem. 

215.  MEANS  OF  EXCITING  THE  FACULTIES. 

The  personal  exercise  of  the  various  faculties  being  thu3 
indispensable  to  their  improvement,  by  what  means  can  both 
be  effected  and  promoted  ? As  follows. 

Every  faculty  has  its  own  proper  aliment  or  stimulant,  the 
presentation  of  which  naturally  induces  spontaneous  action. 
Thus,  Alimentiveness  is  stimulated,  not  by  gold  or  goods,  but 
by  food,  its  natural  stimulant.  Hence,  the  sight  of  food,  or 
seeing  others  eat,  or  even  the  taste  or  smell  of  food,  excites 
hunger  ; whereas,  without  these  natural  stimulants,  Alimen- 
tiveness would  have  remained  quiescent.  ‘ Acquisitiveness  is 
provoked  to  action  by  property  and  the  possession  of  things, 
but  not  by  laws,  distress,  or  danger.  Causality  is  excited  to 
action  by  bringing  causes  to  its  cognizance.  To  excite,  and 
thereby  strengthen,  this  faculty,  think,  reason,  inquire  into  the 
principles  of  things,  and  trace  out  the  relations  between 
causes  and  effects — that  is,  bring  this  faculty  to  bear  upon  the 
causes  and  laws  of  things.  Combativeness  is  excited  by  oppo- 
sition, not  by  beef-steak,  or  money,  or  a fact  in  philosophy. 
Approbativeness  is  excited  by  praise  or  reproach  ; Benevo- 


108 


MEANS  OF  EXCITING 


lence,  by  suffering;  Reverence,  by  thoughts  of  God;  Con. 
scientiousness,  by  right  and  wrong  ; Ideality,  by  the  beautiful, 
exquisite,  and  perfect ; Mirthfulness,  by  the  laughable  or  ri- 
diculous ; Locality,  by  travelling ; Combativeness,  by  opposi- 
tion ; and  thus  of  all  the  other  faculties. 

But  mark  : no  one  faculty  can  either  perform  the  function 
of  any  other,  or  supply  its  place.  Though  they  who  have 
Acquisitiveness  small,  may  desire  money  to  leave  their  chil- 
dren rich,  or  to  show  off,  or  to  aid  the  poor,  or  to  furnish  the 
means  of  acquiring  knowledge  ; yet  these  motives  neither 
excite  this  faculty  nor  enlarge  its  organ ; because  the  first  is 
an  exercise  of  Philoprogenitiveness  ; the  second,  of  Approba- 
tiveness ; the  third,  of  Benevolence ; and  the  fourth,  of  Intel- 
lect. To  exercise  Acquisitiveness,  therefore,  they  must  make 
and  love  money  to  possess  and  hoard — must  love  property  to 
lay  up,  and  for  its  own  sake.  To  eat,  not  because  you  relish 
it,  but  because  a certain  hour  has  come,  is  an  exercise  of  Time, 
not  Alimentiveness.  Fighting  desperately  from  motives  of 
honor,  and  not  for  the  love  of  fighting,  is  no  more  an  exercise 
of  Combativeness  or  Destructiveness,  than  the  apparent  fond- 
ness, in  company,  of  husbands  and  wives  who  cordially  hate 
each  other  is  an  exercise  of  pure  connubial  love. 

Those,  therefore,  who  would  improve  or  exercise  their  re- 
spective faculties  must  do  two  things — must  first  learn  the 
precise  function,  and  thereby  the  constitutional  stimulant 
of  every  faculty,  and  then  bring  and  keep  this  stimulant 
before  the  faculty  to  be  improved.  Force  of  will  may  ren- 
der some  aid  ; yet  the  required  action,  to  effect  the  desired 
enlargement,  must  be  spontaneous — must  “ whissle  itself”26. 
Forced  action  is  no  action.  To  goad  a faculty  by  strenuous 
effort  is  of  little  account.  This  action  must  be  normal,  which 
is  always  pleasurable.  That  pleasure,  already  shown  to  ap- 
pertain to  the  action  and  improvement  of  the  faculties,  is  no 
chance  concomitant,  but  a constitutional  attendant — a pro- 
vision as  beautiful  in  itself  as  promotive  of  such  improve 
ment. 

Thus  much  of  the  means  of  stimulating  and  developing  oui 
own  faculties.  Next,  the  means  of  stimulating  those  of  chib 


THE  FACULTIES. 


109 


dren,  and  others  around  us.  Their  various  faculties  can  also 
be  stimulated,  and  thus  developed,  by  setting  the  appropriate 
food  of  each  faculty  before  them,  and  thus  causing  sponta- 
neous action.  Another  powerful  instrumentality  of  securing 
the  required  action  can  also  be  brought  into  effectual  requisi- 
tion. It  is  this.  All  the  faculties  are  catching.  Or  thus. 
The  action  of  any  faculty  in  one  naturally  awakens  that  same 
faculty  in  those  around  ; and  excites  them  pleasurably  or 
painfully,  normally  or  viciously  in  the  latter,  according  as  they 
are  exercised  in  the  former.  Thus,  Combativeness  in  one 
kindles  Combativeness  in  others,  while  Benevolence  excites 
Benevolence  ; Causality,  Causality,  etc.  When  kindness  does 
you  a favor,  you  are'  anxious  to  return  it,  and  are  rendered 
more  obliging  to  all,  because  Benevolence  in  one  excites  kindly 
feelings  in  all  around  ; whereas,  being  addressed  in  an  angry, 
imperative  tone,  kindles  anger  in  return,  and  excites  a spirit 
of  resistance  and  resentment. 

Mr.  Sharp  said,  angrily,  to  a lad,  “ Go  along,  and  bring  me 
that  basket  yonder.  Be  quick,  or  I’ll  flog  you !”  The  boy 
went  tardily  and  poutingly,  muttering  as  he  went.  “ Why 
don’t  you  hurry  there,  you  idle  vagabond,  you  ? Come,  be 
quick,  or  I’ll  whip  your  lazy  hide  of  your  oack,  you  saucy 
impudent  rascal,  you,”  re-echoed  Mr,  Sharp,  still  more  impera 
tively.  The  boy  went  still  more  slowly,  and  made  up  a face 
still  more  scornful,  for  which  Mr.  Sharp  flogged  him  ; and 
in  return  the  boy  conceived  and  cherished  eternal  hatred  to 
Mr.  Sharp,  and  eventually  sought  and  obtained  the  long-de- 
sired revenge.  But  Mr.  Benign  said  kindly,  to  the  same  boy, 
“ John,  will  you  please  run  and  bring  me  that  basket  ?” 
“ Yes,  Sir,”  said  John,  and  off*  he  started  on  the  run,  glad  to 
do  the  good  man  a favor. 

All  the  neighbors  of  Mr.  Contentious  cordially  hate  him, 
because  he  is  continually  contending  with,  and  blaming,  and 
sueing  them.  His  Combativeness  manifested  toward  them, 
has  excited  their  enmity  toward  him,  so  as  to  cause  a per- 
petual warfare.  Hence,  they  all  cherish  ill-will  against  him, 
and  most  of  them  watch  every  opportunity  to  injure  him,  and 
he  seeks  to  be  revenged  on  them. 

10 


no 


EXCITING  THE  FACULTIES. 


But  every  neighbor  of  Mr.  Obliging  gladly  improves  every 
opportunity  to  serve  him.  His  neighborly  feelings  toward 
them  have  excited  their  better  feelings,  not  only  toward  him, 
but  even  toward  each  other. 

Mr.  Justice  deals  fairly  with  all — asking  and  offering  but 
once  price ; so  that  Mr.  Banter  never  tries  to  beat  him  down, 
nor  thinks  of  making  or  receiving  a second  offer,  but  deals 
fairly  with  him.  But  when  Mr.  Banter  deals  with  Mr.  Close, 
he  stands  more  upon  a sixpence  than  it  is  worth,  or  than  he 
does  for  a dollar  when  dealing  with  Mr.  Justice,  and  will 
neither  sell  as  cheap  nor  give  as  much  for  the  same  article  to 
Mr.  Close  as  to  Mr.  Justice,  because  the  Acquisitiveness  of 
Mr.  Close  and  Mr.  Banter  each  excites  that  of  the  other,  while 
the  higher  faculties  of  Mr.  Justice  restrain  the  action  of  this 
Jewing  spirit  in  all  who  deal  with  him. 

As  Parson  Reverence  enters  the  sanctuary,  clothed  with  the 
spirit  of  devotion,  and  in  the  air  and  attitude  of  sanctity,  in- 
stantly a solemn  feeling  pervades  the  whole  assembly,  so  that 
even  the  playing  boys  in  the  gallery  catch  the  pervading 
spirit  of  solemnity,  and  drop  their  sports.  But  when  Parson 
Gayety  enters  the  church,  a gay,  volatile  feeling  spreads 
throughout  the  congregation,  and  the  boys  laugh  aloud.  The 
former  is  a successful  preacher  of  righteousness,  and  has  been 
instrumental  in  promoting  true  religion,  while  Parson  Gayety 
has  a worldly,  fashionable  congregation.  Revivals  of  religion 
beautifully  and  forcibly  illustrate  this  principle  of  Sympathy. 

Mr.  Elegant  enters  into  the  company  of  Messrs.  Useful  and 
Misses  Plain,  and  at  once  a feeling  of  refinement  and  elegance 
infuses  every  breast,  chastens  every  remark,  and  polishes 
every  action  and  feeling  ; but  when  Mr.  Homespun  enters  the 
company  of  Messrs.  Wellbred  and  Misses  Genteel,  the  elevated 
tone  of  feeling  which  before  pervaded  the  company,  is  lowered 
as  effectually  and  perceptibly  as  when  a mass  of  ice  is  introduced 
into  a heated  atmosphere  ; and  he  is  not  well  received,  simply 
because  he  interrupts  the  exercise  of  refinement  and  good  taste. 

Mr.  Self  Esteem  swells  and  struts  past  you  in  the  natural 
expression  of  pride  and  scorn,  and  instantly  your  own  self- 
sufficiency  is  excited,  you  straighten  up,  and  feel  that  you  are 


BY  SYMPATHY. 


Ill 


as  good  as  he  is ; whereas,  but  for  this  manifestation  of  pride 
on  his  part,  you  would  not  once  have  thought  of  yourself — 
pride  and  scorn  in  others  exciting  the  same  feelings  in  you. 

Two  Messrs.  Mum  were  sitting  silently  in  a room,  neither 
having  a word  to  say,  when  Mrs.  Talkative  entered,  and  oegan 
to  rattle  away.  This  so  excited  the  Language  of  Messrs. 
Mum,  that  they  talked  incessantly,  so  that  there  was  not  room 
to  put  in  words  edgewise  ; whereas,  neither  would  have  said  a 
word  had  not  the  Language  of  Mrs.  Talkative  excited  Lan- 
guage in  Messrs.  Mum. 

Mr.  Reason  began  to  discuss  and  expound  certain  important 
philosophical  principles  to  Mr.  Business,  who,  though  he  had 
been  too  busy  before  to  take  time  to  think  or  investigate,  saw 
their  force,  and  immediately  exclaimed,  u How  true  that  is, 
though  I never  thought  of  it  before  V ’ and  then  proceeded  to 
show  how  perfectly  the  principle  brought  to  view  explained  what 
he  had  often  seen,  but  never  before  understood.  It  also  set  him 
to  thinking  upon  other  subjects,  and  investigating  other  causes. 

Miss  Display  came  out  in  splendid,  new-fashioned  attire, 
and  almost  all  the  ladies  in  town  were  set  on  fire  by  a spirit  of 
emulation,  and  would  not  let  their  husbands  and  fathers  rest 
till  they  too  could  dress  like  her;  although,  unless  Miss  Dis- 
play had  indulged  her  own  Approbativeness,  that  of  the  other 
milliner-made  ladies  would  not  have  been  excited. 

Mr.  Witty  threw  off  a joke,  and  this  excited  the  risibles  of 
Mr.  Serious,  who,  in  return,  manufactured  another  ; whereas:, 
but  for  Mr.  Witty’s  influence,  the  face  of  Mr.  S.  would  still 
have  remained  as  long  as  ever. 

Mrs.  Timid,  while  in  meeting,  screamed  out  with  fright, 
and  nearly  all  in  the  house  were  instantly  electrified  with 
fear,  but  for  what  they  did  not  know. 

In  1836,  Mr.  Hope  embarked  in  speculations  in  stock,  real 
estate,  mulberry  trees,  etc.,  and  counted  his  thousands  in  pros- 
pect, which  inspired  confidence  in  the  breasts  of  thousands  of 
the  Messrs.  Doubtful,  who  were  excited  by  his  spirit,  and  fol- 
lowed his  example. 

Mr.  Appetite  commenced  eating  his  breakfast  greedily, 
whe*  in  came  his  boy,  who  soon  bawled  for  a piece,  which  he 


112 


VALUE  OF  SELF-KNOWLEDGE, 


probably  would  not  have  thought  of  for  hours  if  he  had  not 
seen  his  father  eating  so  greedily. 

Is  not  this  principle  of  sympathy — this  feeling  as  others 
feel~this  spreading  of  the  emotions  from  soul  to  soul — a law 
of  human  nature,  as  well  as  a doctrine  of  Phrenology  ? Is  it 
not  as  universal  and  as  unifbrm  as  the  nature  of  man,  and  as 
powerful  as  it  is  universal  ? What  mind  so  adamantine  as 
not  to  experience  its  power,  and  be  swayed  by  its  influence  ? 

The  great  practical  inference  is,  that  we  should  habitually 
exercise  toward  our  children  those  feelings  we  would  have 
them  exercise  toward  others — a principle  which  we  shall  have 
frequent  occasion  to  apply  as  we  proceed. 

One  other  thing  we  require  to  do  in  order  successfully  both 
to  prosecute  self-improvement,  and  to  render  our  children  what 
we  would  have  them.  We  must 

216.  “ KNOW  OUR  OWN  SELVES.” 

“ Know  thyself,”  was  written  in  golden  capitals  upon  the 
splendid  temple  of  Delphos,  as  the  most  important  maxim  which 
the  wise  men  of  Greece  could  hand  down  to  unborn  genera- 
tions. The  Scriptures  require  us  to  “ search  our  own  hearts, 
and  try  ourselves;”  and  the  entire  experience  of  mankind 
bears  testimony,  that  SELF-knowledge  is  the  most  important  of 
all  knowledge.  A thorough  knowledge  of  our  own  selves — of 
our  good  properties,  and  how  to  make  the  most  of  them  ; of 
our  defects,  and  how  to  guard  against  the  evils  growing  out  of 
them ; of  our  predispositions  to,  and  source  of,  temptations  to 
excess  and  error,  and  the  means  of  keeping  these  desires  qui- 
escent ; of  what  we  are  capable  of  doing  and  of  becoming,  and 
what  not ; and  wherein  we  are  liable  to  err  in  judgment  and 
conduct — is  more  intimately  associated  with  our  virtue,  happi- 
ness, and  success  through  life,  than  all  other  knowledge  united. 

Wise,  then,  indeed  is  he,  however  little  else  he  may  know, 
who  understands  himself,  but  ignorant  and  foolish  they,  how- 
ever much  they  may  know  besides,  who  do  not  understand 
their  own  character — their  capabilities  and  deficiencies,  their 
excesses  and  weaknesses,  their  faults  and  virtues. 

Self-knowledge  will  show  us  just  what  we  are  ; and  the 


AND  MEANS  OF  : BTAINING  IT. 


113 


principle  of  balance  already  explained212,  what  we  should  be- 
come ; and  that  of  the  increase  of  organs 213,  how  to  become 
what  we  should  be.  As,  before  we  can  repair  a watch,  we 
must  ascertain  what  portion  of  it  is  out  of  order ; so,  before 
we  can  do  the  first  correct  thing  toward  self-improvement,  ex- 
cept by  accident,  we  must  know  exactly  wherein  we  depart 
from  the  true  standard  of  mental  and  moral  perfection.  Be- 
fore we  can  correct  any  defect,  we  must  know  exactly  in  what 
that  defect  consists — must  know  the  precise  faculty  which  is 
too  strong,  or  too  weak,  or  wrongly  exercised. 

Now,  this  very  knowledge,  Phrenology  furnishes,  with  all 
all  the  certainty  attendant  on  physical  demonstration.  It 
enables  every  individual  to  place  his  own  fingers  upon  every 
element  of  his  character ; and  in  case  his  predominant  Self- 
Esteem  renders  him  proud  and  self-conceited,  or  its  deficiency 
leads  him  to  underrate  his  capabilities  or  moral  worth,  and 
produces  diffidence,  it  will  tell  him  how  to  correct  these  false 
estimates,  and  teach  all  men  precisely  what  they  really  are. 
It  telle  those  whose  Self-Esteem  predominates  over  their  other 
faculties,  as  by  a voice  from  heaven,  that  their  high  notions 
of  themselves  are  not  caused  by  the  fact  of  any  actual  supe- 
riority in  them  more  than  in  others,  but  by  their  overweening 
self-conceit — that  this  organ  would  make  them  think  thus  of 
themselves  even  if  they  were  fools,  and  even  because  of  their 
folly,  and  the  more  the  larger  this  organ  ; and  if  this  knowl- 
edge, uttered  with  all  the  unction  of  scientific  certainty,  will 
not  humble  them,  they  must  be  soft  indeed. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  will  tell  those  whose  intellectual  and 
moral  organization  is  good  but  Self-Esteem  moderate,  that  their 
low  estimation  of  themselves  is  caused,  not  by  their  actual 
inferiority,  but  by  their  want  of  this  faculty — that  if  it  were 
stronger,  they  would  think  much  of  themselves,  even  though 
their  real  merits  should  remain  the  same ; and  if  this  will  not 
enable  a man  to  hold  up  his  head,  nothing  will.  It  will  tell  us 
all  when  Hope  is  too  active,  and  when  too  weak — when  Cau- 
tiousness is  too  large,  and  when  deficient,  whether  we  are  too 
pragmatical  or  pusillanimous,  too  talkative  or  silent,  too  benev- 
olent or  selfish  ; and  thus  of  all  the  other  faculties. 

10* 


114 


VALUE  OF  SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 


Phrenology  will  also  tell  us  when  any  of  the  faculties  are 
wrongly  exercised.  By  giving  us  clearly  the  normal  func- 
tion of  all  the  faculties,  it  of  course  points  out  all  departures 
therefrom,  and  shows  us  just  how  to  exercise  every  faculty  in 
harmony  with  its  primitive  constitution — already  shown  to 
be  virtuous  and  happy  208. 

But  some  will  here  object  that  they  cannot  afford  the  time 
to  prosecute  this  study  sufficiently  to  be  able  thus  to  apply  it. 
Not  to  dwell  here  upon  the  importance  of  making  its  study  a 
paramount  business  of  life  because  we  can  engage  in  nothing 
equally  profitable — not  to  enlarge  upon  the  utter  insignificance 
of  business,  money,  and  those  numerous  things  which  now 
engross  our  time  in  comparison  with  the  far  greater  happiness 
conferred  by  a knowledge  of  this  science,  and  shall  we  not  do 
that  first  which  will  render  us  the  most  happy  ?l  495 — if  you  do 
not  understand  this  science  sufficiently  to  obtain  from  it  the 
required  knowledge  of  your  own  characters,  apply  to  a skilful 
and  experienced  practical  phrenologist,  who  will  be  able  to 
furnish  the  requisite  information  already  at  your  hands.  Do 
not  go  from  motives  of  curiosity,  nor  to  test  the  truth  of  the 
science,  as  much  as  to  know  your  own  selves,  and  especially 
your  failings.  Tell  him  frankly  your  object,  and  inform 
him  on  all  those  points  calculated  to  aid  him  in  forming  a cor- 
rect judgment ; such  as  your  education,  habits,  parentage, 
occupations,  the  state  of  your  health,  and  the  like — the  latter 
more  especially,  if  you  wish  physiological  as  well  as  phreno- 
logical advice.  Place  yourselves  under  his  hands  as  you 
would  under  those  of  a physician  or  teacher,  and  if  additional 
compensation  be  required  for  this  extra  labor,  money  can 
never  be  spent  to  better  advantage,  or  where  so  little  will 
yield  so  much  good.  By  combining  your  own  practical  expe- 
rience with  his  scientific  examinations,  you  will  be  able  to 
learn  with  absolute  certainty  not  only  all  your  leading  ex- 
cesses and  deficiencies,  but  also  even  most  of  your  minor 
flaws  and  weaknesses : their  remedy  will  be  pointed  out  in 
these  pages. 

These  examinations  as  applied  to  children  are  especially 
serviceable  and  important,  because  they  show  just  what  organs 


VALUE  OF  PHRENOLOGY. 


115 


are  too  large*  and  what  are  too  small,  what  are  most  liable  to 
be  perverted,  and  wherever  their  characters  can  be  improved — 
or  in  other  words,  just  where  to  commence  the  great  labor  of 
their  education  and  improvement,  and  this  work  will  then 
show  how  to  prosecute  it. 

A correct  phrenological  examination  of  a child’s  head  will 
also  disclose  his  natural  capabilities  and  talents,  and 
thereby  show  what  occupations  or  spheres  in  life  he  is  best 
calculated  to  fill  with  honor,  profit,  and  personal  enjoyment, 
and  in  what  kinds  of  business  he  must  either  fail  or  else  drag 
along  behind  his  competitors — a species  of  knowledge  almost 
infinitely  valuable.  How  many  readers  have  been  hampered 
and  maimed  for  life  by  having  been  thrust  into  a business  for 
which  they  are  not  naturally  qualified,  and  which  they  cor- 
dially detest  ? Change  is  difficult,  and  this  living  along  be- 
tween “ hawk  and  buzzard”  is  worse,  so  that  their  whole  lives, 
which  in  the  right  business  would  have  been  one  grand  gala- 
day,  are  now  those  of  barrenness  and  darkness.  Who  can 
duly  estimate  the  advantages  of  Phrenology  in  these  and  kin- 
dred applications  ? 

Such  examination  will  also  teach  those  who  have  occasion 
to  employ  domestics,  apprentices,  and  the  like,  who  will  best 
suit  their  respective  purposes.  Take  the  following  advertise- 
ment, copied  from  the  New  York  Sun,  as  an  example : — 

44  An  Apprentice  Wanted. — A stout  boy,  not  over  15  years 
of  age,  of  German  or  Scotch  parents,  to  learn  a good  but  difficult 
trade.  N.  B. — It  will  be  necessary  to  bring  a recommendation  as 
to  his  abilities  from  Messrs.  Fowler  & Wells,  Phrenologists,  131 
Nassau-st.,  New  York.  Apply  corner  West  and  Franklin  streets.” 

* Strictly  speaking,  however,  no  organ  can  be  too  large  if  duly  bal- 
anced and  rightly  exercised.  The  great  danger  is,  not  too  much  power 
or  action,  but  perversion.  The  faculties  need  right  direction208  rather 
than  restraint.  The  larger  an  organ  the  better,  provided  it  is  rightly 
exercised;  yet,  since  it  is  easier  sometimes  to  restore  balance  by  bring- 
ing down  large  organs  than  by  bringing  small  ones  all  the  way  up  to 
them,  and  since  the  extra  large  organs  are  proportionally  more  liable 
to  such  perversion208  than  small  ones,  we  use  the  phrase  “ too  large”  to 
cover  the  whole  ground  of  perversion  and  wrong  direction,  so  that  we 
use  “ diminution  of  the  organs”  to  signify  their  proper  guarding,  direc 
tion,  and  subjugation,  rather  than  any  actual  reduction  of  their  power. 


116 


APPLICATION  OF  PHRENOLOGY 


This  same  firm  had  already  chosen  several  apprentices  in 
the  same  way,  and  found  them  such  excellent  workmen,  and 
withal  so  trusty,  that  they  will  not  now  make  choice  of  any 
appentices  unless  they  possess  the  right  developments — ■ 
\arge  intellectual,  constructive,  and  moral  organs. 

Another  firm  in  New  York,  which  pays  out  half  a million 
dollars  in  France  yearly,  would  not  make  choice  of  a purchas- 
ing agent  till  his  head  had  been  submitted  to  the  test  of  phreno- 
logical science.  Similar  instances  are  common  ; and  the  ad- 
vantages of  ascertaining  the  true  character,  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  mistake,  in  these  and  kindred  cases,  is  incalculable 

Above  all,  these  examinations  furnish  the  very  best  oppor- 
tunity in  the  world  for  telling  children,  adults,  friends — every- 
body— their  faults.  To  have  their  errors  reiterated  a hun- 
dred times,  and  often  in  a blowing,  fault-finding  manner,  is 
apt  to  vex  and  anger  them,  and  thus  render  them  worse.  Not 
so  when  pointed  out  by  a phrenologist.  They  feel  that  he 
has  no  prepossessions  or  prejudices  either  way,  but  follows  the 
developments — that  their  heads  show  that  they  have  this  de- 
ficiency, that  excess,  and  the  other  fault,  and  therefore  that  it 
must  indeed  be  so.  Take  those  whom  you  would  convince 
of  their  faults  to  a thorough  phrenologist.  He  will  be  sure  to 
detect  and  disclose  the  error,  and  thus  drive  and  clench  the 
nail  of  conviction — the  first  great  step  toward  reform. 

Formerly,  professional  applicants  sought  to  test  the  truth 
of  the  science,  or  were  actuated  by  novelty  or  curiosity.  But 
a most  gratifying  change  is  now  transpiring  in  the  public 
mind.  Most  of  those  who  now  apply,  already  convinced  of 
its  truth,  wish  to  derive  benefit  therefrom.  I therefore  make 
it  a professional  duty  to  specify  especially  their  fauits — to 
tell  them  what  organs  are  too  small,  and  what  are  most  liable 
to  become  perverted,  and  especially  to  administer  physiologi- 
cal advice,  and  give  health  prescriptions ; and  thousands  are 
testifying  their  gratitude  for  the  good  they  have  derived  there- 
from. Indeed,  I propagate  and  practice  this  science  mainly 
in  order  to  do  good  through  it — to  turn  that  tremendous  power 
it  gives  to  improving  mankind,  and  especially  the  young. 
Hence,  in  making  out  charts  of  character,  I always  strike  a 


TO  HUMAN  IMPROVEMENT. 


117 


semicircular  stroke  over  those  organs  which  are  too  small  and 
require  to  be  more  especially  developed  by  culture,  and  under 
those  which  require  to  be  watched,  guarded,  or  restrained. 
These  directions,  especially  in  connection  with  these  volumes, 
will  be  of  incalculable  service,  especially  to  the  young,  be- 
cause these  signs  show  what  physical  functions  and  phreno- 
logical faculties  require  to  be  cultivated  or  guarded,  and  these 
volumes  show  how  to  effect  the  required  self-improvement. 
To  present  this  whole  matter  at  one  glance,  a table  has  been 
prepared  and  placed  at  the  beginning  of  each  volume,  the 
proper  marking  of  which  will  show  what  is  required  to  be 
done  by  those  examined,  and  refer  them  to  those  passages  of 
each  volume  which  instruct  them  how  to  do  it.  A general 
table  has  also  been  prepared,  which  refers  to  all  the  volumes 
collectively,  in  a similar  manner,  as  seen  in  their  explanations. 

One  word,  in  this  connection,  touching  the  practical  utility 
of  this  science  of  sciences.  Since  its  practical  application  can 
effect  ail  this  good — and  this  is  but  one  among  many  other 
advantages — this  “ examining  heads’5  is  not  so  inferior  a call- 
ing, after  all.  Indeed,  what  other  is  equally  important  or 
exalted  ? What  can  be  turned  to  as  momentous  and  practical 
advantage  ? If  to  tell  men  their  physical  disorders,  and  pre- 
scribe medicines,  be  honorable  because  useful,  how  much 
more  to  point  out  their  mental  maladies,  and  prescribe  moral 
remedies  ? Quite  long  enough  has  this  professional  applica- 
tion been  frowned  upon,  even  by  phrenologists.  The  author — 
the  first  to  reduce  this  matter  to  a distinct  profession — has 
been  obliged  to  fight  a desperate  battle,  not  merely  against 
anti-phrenologists,  but  a worse  one  against  its  philosophizing 
advocates.  But  the  day  is  now  ours.  The  application  of 
this  science  to  the  discernment  of  character,  preparatory  to  its 
improvement,  is  beginning  to  be  duly  appreciated  and  respect, 
ed,  and  will  soon  become  the  most  honorable  professional 
practice,  because  the  most  useful.  Phrenologists  by  scores — 
good  men  and  true — are  fitting  themselves  for  this  arduous 
work.  Nor  of  such  can  there  well  be  too  many.  They 
should  be  stationed  in  every  town,  should  be  more  numerous 
than  physicans,  and  be  universally  consulted.  Especially 


118 


PROPOSED  PLAN. 


are  female  phrenologists  required,  to  prescribe  for  children. 
Whether  it  is  or  is  not  proper  for  them  to  deliver  public  lec- 
tures, is  not  now  up  for  discussion ; but  the  propriety  of  their 
examining  and  prescribing  at  least  for  children  is  undoubted. 
For  this  their  greater  development  of  Philoprogenitiveness  than 
males  possess,  fits  them222.  Hence,  I cast  my  influence  une- 
quivocally in  its  favor. 

But,  after  all,  as  every  one  should  be  his  own  doctor,  so 
every  one  should  be  his  own  phrenologist.  Parents  should 
understand  and  apply  it  in  educating  and  choosing  occupations 
for  their  own  children,  and  also  teach  it  to  them.  Indeed,  it 
should  be  made  a paramount  study  in  all  our  schools.  Our 
whole  population  should  grow  up  phrenologists  and  physiolo- 
gists ; to  facilitate  which,  the  author  hopes  soon  to  prepare, 
what  he  has  long  contemplated,  a work  on  these  subjects  suit- 
able for  a school  and  academic  manual. 

Having  learned  our  characters,  and  of  course  wherein  they 
require  to  be  improved,  and  what  faculties  require  special  cul- 
tivation, as  just  seen,  we  next  require  to  know  how  to  excite 
them  to  that  spontaneous  action  already  shown  to  constitute 
the  principal  means  of  improving  them214215.  That  is,  we 
must  ascertain  how  to  feed  these  faculties  with  their  ap- 
propriate stimulus,  and  thus  develop  them.  This,  the  analysis 
of  the  faculties  alone  can  teach.  To  that  analysis  we  there- 
fore now  proceed.  And  in  prosecuting  it,  we  shall  define 
instead  of  describe,  and  point  out  the  adaptation  of  the  facul- 
ties to  their  respective  counterparts  in  nature.  Thus,  Paren- 
tiveness  is  adapted  to  the  infantile  condition  of  man  ; Alimen- 
tiveness  to  our  demand  for  nutrition ; Constructiveness  to  the 
existence  of  mechanical  laws  and  man’s  requisition  for  things 
made ; Ideality  to  the  beautiful  and  perfect  in  nature ; Lan- 
guage to  our  requisition  for  the  communication  of  ideas ; 
Causality  to  the  existence  of  causes  and  laws,  and  thus  of  all 
the  other  faculties.  Nor  does  any  other  short-hand  method 
equal  this  for  impressing  indelibly  the  specific  functions  of 
the  respective  faculties  upon  the  mind  ; because  to  remembei 
this  adaptation  of  a faculty  is  comparatively  easy,  and  this 
rivets  its  true  function  concisely  yet  completely. 


CHAPTER  II. 


ANALYSTS  AND  MEANS  OF  STRENGTHEN  HVG  THE  FACULTIES. 


1.  AMATIVENESS. 

217.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  ADAPTATION. 

Connubial  love  and  attachment  of  the  sexes  for  each  other. 
Adapted  to  parentage,  or  the  means  ordained  by  nature  for 
continuing  the  race,  and  all  that  propagates.  Located  in  the 
cerebellum,  or  back  and  lower  portion  of  the  head.  Its  primi- 
tive office  is  that  tender  connubial  affection  and  reciprocal 
blending  of  soul  which  unite  loving  husbands  and  wives  in- 
dissolubly together,  induce  marriage,  and  result  in  offspring. 
The  larger  it  is,  provided  it  is  rightly  exercised  208,  the  more 
cordial  this  union,  and  the  greater  the  estimation  in  which  each 
sex  holds  the  other.  For  a full  exposition  of  this  faculty  and 
its  right  direction,  see  the  author’s  work,  entitled  “ Love  and 
Parentage.” 


218.  PERVERSION  AND  RESTRAINT. 

Its  abuses  are  licentiousness  and  sodomy  in  all  their  forms  and 
degrees.  On  this  subject,  and  also  for  directions  concerning 
its  restraint,  see  “ Amativeness.”  Suffice  it  here  to  say  that 
rigid  chastity  alone  can  secure  connubial,  or  even  general 
happiness.  Nor  chastity  in  act  merely,  but  also  in  feeling. 
The  soul  must  be  undefiled  by  carnal  thoughts  and  desires, 
else  corruption  will  enter  and  diffuse  itself  throughout  the  feel- 
ings, if  not  conduct.  Nor  can  youth  be  charged  with  a more 
important  counsel  than  to  keep  both  body  and  soul  perfectly 
pure  and  holy  from  all  the  contaminations  of  this  corrupting 
vice.  Indulge  this  faeling  only  in  pure  love  and  virtuous 
wedlock. 


120 


PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 


2.  PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 

219  DEFINITION,  LOCATION L4.RGE  AND  SMALL. 

Parental  love  ; attachment  to  our  own  children ; interest 
in  young  children  generally. 

To  find  this  organ,  draw  a line  from  the  eye  to  tne  top  of  the 
ear,  ana  continue  it  on  to  the  middle  of  the  back  of  the  Head, 
under  which  point  it  is  located.  It  is  large  in  the  accompany- 
ing female  head,  but  small  in  that  of  Mr.  J.  Johnson. 

PHILOPROGENITIVENESS  LARGE. 


No.  5.  Mrs.  Smith. 


Large  Philoprogenitiveness  loves  darling  infancy  and  bud- 
ding childhood  with  an  intensity  and  fervor  proportionate  to  its 
size  and  activity,  and  the  more  so  if  they  are  our  own,  and 
forbears  with  their  faults.  It  loves  the  young  and  helpless  as 
such,  and  delights  to  administer  to  their  wants;  loves  to  play 
with  them,  and  see  them  play ; and  takes  an  interest  in  the 
young  generally.  It  also  loves  to  feed  and  tend  stock,  the 
young  of  animals,  and  succor  the  helpless. 


ITS  FUNCTIONS. 


121 


PHILO  PROGENITIVE  NESS  SMALL. 


No.  6.  Mr.  J.  Johnson. 

Small  Philoprogenitiveness  does  not  love  or  take  an  interest 
hr  children,  does  not  make  due  allowances  for  their  errors,  and 
as  too  austere,  distant,  and  perhaps  severe  toward  them. 

220.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

In  case  al  mankind  had  been  brought  forth  in  the  full  pos- 
session of  all  their  physical  and  mental  powers,  capable,  from 
the  first,  of  taking  abundant  care  of  themselves,  without  re 
quiring  parents  to  supply  a single  want,  this  faculty  would 
have  been  out  of  place ; for  then  it  would  have  had  nothing 
to  do.  But  the  fact  is  far  otherwise.  Man  enters  the  world 
in  a condition  utterly  helpless.  Infants  require  a great  amount 
of  care  and  nursing.  Without  its  stimulus  to  provide  for  and 
11 


122 


PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 


watch  over  infancy,  every  cnild  must  inevitably  perish,  and 
our  race  become  extinct.  To  this  infantile  condition  of  man- 
kind, and  consequent  requisition  for  care  and  provision,  this 
faculty  is  adapted.  x\nd  who  as  well  qualified  to  bestow  these 
attentions  as  parents  upon  their  own  children  ? That  provi- 
sion by  which  all  parents  love  their  own  children  better  than 
those  of  others,  is  most  beautiful  in  itself,  and  perfectly  calcu- 
lated to  nurse  and  educate  the  race.  Parental  love — attach- 
ment to  our  own  children  as  ours — is  then  the  distinctive  office 
of  this  faculty.  None  but  parents  can  ever  experience  the 
thrilling  delights  of  parental  love,  or  grieve  like  them  over 
their  loss.  The  thought  that  they  are  “ bone  of  our  bone  and 
fiesh  of  our  flesh,55  endears  them  to  us  by  ties  the  most  tender 
and  powerful,  which  are  still  farther  enhanced  if  begotten  or 
born  by  a dearly  beloved  husband  or  wife. 

This  faculty  is  more  especially  adapted  to  the  infantile  state, 
and  its  helplessness  and  need  of  care  ; and  the  younger  and 
more  needy  the  child,  the  stronger  this  faculty.  Hence  mothers 
always  love  their  weakest  and  most  sickly  children  most. 

Nature  therefore  requires,  in  and  by  the  very  creation  of  this 
faculty,  that  we  love  and  provide  for  our  children.  The 
existence  of  this  faculty  imposes  an  obligation  upon  all  who 
become  parents,  to  make  all  due  exertion  both  for  their  physi- 
cal wants  and  moral  training.  To  usher  immortals  into  exist- 
ence, and  then  leave  them  to  suffer  for  the  necessaries  of  life, 
and  above  all,  to  let  them  grow  up  ignorant  and  depraved,  is 
most  wicked.  And  the  higher  we  can  carry  those  in  the  scale 
of  improvement  who  owe  their  existence  to  us,  the  more  per- 
fectly we  fulfil  our  duties  to  them,  and  obey  the  commands  of 
God,  uttered  through  the  institutes  of  nature.  But  wo  to  those 
who  disobey  these  injunctions. 

221  DUTY  AND  MODS  UF  ITS  CULTIVATION. 

It  should  therefore  be  cultivated.  Parents  are  in  duty  bound 
to  love  their  children,  as  much  as  to  eat,  or  worship ; because, 
being  a primitive  faculty  of  the  mind,  its  vigorous  exercise 
becomes  an  imperious  natural  duty.  But  are  not  most  of  us 
deficient  in  this  respect  ? Would  not  our  own  happiness,  both 


ITS  CULTIVi.  TION. 


123 


absolutely  and  in  our  children,  be  promoted  by  its  cultivation  ? 
Should  not  the  most  tender  regard  be  manifested  for  them  in 
all  our  conversation  and  intercourse  with  them  ? Should 
anything  be  allowed  to  interrupt  or  mar  the  most  perfect  inti- 
macy  and  union  of  feeling  between  us  and  them  ? Are  scold- 
ing and  beating  them  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  nature 
and  powerful  exercise  of  this  faculty  ? Is  even  a distant,  aus- 
tere, harsh,  or  petulant  manner  of  speaking  and  acting,  com- 
patible with  that  perfect  love  which  this  faculty  was  created 
to  secure  ? Should  not  parents  even  play  with  them,  and  be 
on  terms  of  the  most  perfect  familiarity  ? Should  it  not  be 
our  constant  study  to  promote  their  happiness  and  advance- 
ment  in  all  those  little  affairs  of  life  which  being  so  much  with 
them  facilitates  ? Should  they  not  be  indulged  in  whatever  is 
for  their  good,  and  denied  only  what  is  injurious,  or  beyond 
our  means  ? This  crabbed,  fault-finding,  authoritative  man- 
ner of  treating  them,  is  in  open  violation  of  that  law  of  love 
which  this  faculty  was  ordained  to  secure.  “ He  that  loveth 
not  his  own  household,  is  worse  than  an  infidel.’5 

Forbearance  toward  them  is  another  natural  product  of 
this  faculty.  Most  of  those  thousand  things  on  account  of 
which  we  scold  them  are  childish  sports,  and  perfectly  inno- 
cent on  their  part.  Perhaps  it  is  for  their  incessant  activity. 
This  they  can  no  more  help  than  breathe,  and  without  it  they 
would  die.  But  we  shall  touch  a kindred  point  hereafter. 
What  we  wish  now  to  impress  is,  the  duty  and  importance  of 

LOVING  THEM  DEVOTEDLY. 

To  promote  this  love,  parents  and  children  should  be  sepa-  ^ 
rated  as  little  as  possible.  None  but  parents  can  possibly  sup- 
ply the  place  of  parents.  Their  guardianship  and  healthful 
influences  should  be  perpetual.  Hence,  sending  them  from 
home  to  be  educated  violates  this  faculty,  and  is  therefore 
wrong.  It  also  measurably  cuts  off  that  controlling  power  of 
parents  over  their  children  which  uninterrupted  intercourse 
would  strengthen.  In  short,  nothing  can  be  more  clear  than 
that,  from  the  analysis  of  this  faculty,  parents  should  be  the 
main  educators  of  the  intellects  and  formers  of  the  morals 
of  their  children,  as,  by  common  consent,  they  now  are  the 


124 


PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 


providers  for  their  physical  wants — a principle  often  implied 
in  these  volumes,  and  now  demonstrated. 

One  other  motive,  if  possible  still  more  potent,  exists  for 
cultivating  this  mutual  good  understanding  and  cordial  love 
between  parents  and  their  children  ; namely,  the  influence  it 
gives  parents  over  children.  Love  forms  the  most  powerful 
incentive  to  obedience  and  servitude  known  to  the  human 
mind.  As  the  organs  of  the  social  affections  are  located  in 
the  base  of  the  brain,  so  these  faculties  exert  an  all-moving, 
all-controlling  influence  over  character  and  conduct — an  in- 
fluence the  power  of  which  is  perfectly  surprising  to  those  who 
have  not  closely  observed  its  practical  workings.  Hence, 
men,  women,  children,  all  mankind,  will  do  for  love  what 
neither  money,  nor  force,  nor  any  other  motive  whatever, 
could  possibly  induce  them  to  do.  A few  illustrations.  Let 
a minister  get  the  love  of  his  people,  and  he  can  lead  them 
whithersoever  he  will.  They  will  swallow  all  he  says,  how- 
ever absurd  or  ridiculous,  and,  spaniel-like,  think  the  more 
of  him  the  more  he  chastises  them.  This  love  is  the  great 
secret  of  clerical  power  and  influence.  But  when  a people 
hate  their  minister,  he  may  preach  with  the  eloquence  anM 
power  almost  of  angels,  but  all  in  vain.  They  dislike  what 
he  says,  however  true  and  good,  because  they  hate  its  source, 
and  therefore  turn  a deaf  ear  on  him.  Attachment  inspires 
confidence,  and  all  know  how  much  influence  this  gives  those 
confided  in  over  those  who  confide. 

Politicans  furnish  another  example  equally  in  point.  See 
how  they  go  about  insinuatingly  and  coaxingly  from  voter  to 
voter,  to  gain  their  friendship,  because  they  well  know  that 
personal  attachment  secures  votes  more  effectually  than  any 
other  means  whatever.  And  to  rivet  this  influence  on  father 
and  son,  so  as  to  provide  for  another  prospective  vote,  they  pat 
the  little  son  kindly  on  the  shoulder  and  say  many  a coaxing 
word  to  him.  Nor  can  they  adopt  a course  as  politic  as  this 
of  securing  the  personal  friendship  of  father,  son,  and  all 
concerned.  What  put  Andrew  Jackson  into  the  presidential 
chair?  Not  his  talents,  not  his  fitness  for  that  exalted  station, 
but  his  personal  popularity.  His  soldiers  loved  him  because 


POWER  OF  LCVE. 


125 


he  loved  them.  He  also  made  it  a point  to  help  young  men 
start  in  life.  This  made  him  their  friends,  and  they  made  all 
their  friends  also  his  friends,  and  thus  the  circle  extended  to 
the  borders  of  the  nation,  and  perpetuated  his  powerful  influ- 
ence till  he  died.  Merchants  also  understand  and  practice 
this  plan  to  secure  custom. 

The  influence  of  the  speaker  over  his  audiences  furnishes 
another  illustration  of  the  power  of  the  affections  over  the 
feelings,  will,  judgment,  and  morals,  of  mankind.  Let  him 
awaken  a prepossession  in  his  favor,  and  he  may  say  what  he 
likes,  and  can  make  them  cry  and  laugh  alternately,  because 
of  his  almost  unlimited  power  over  them.  But  let  him  begin 
by  awakening  their  hatred,  and  how  changed  the  effect  of  all 
he  says ! 

How  omnipotent  the  power  wielded  by  a husband  over  a 
wife  who  loves  him  ! When  he  is  sick,  all  the  gold  of  Ophir,  all 
the  regal  power  of  Solomon,  cannot  secure  the  attentions  and 
self-sacrifices  she  bestows,  not  grudgingly,  but  with  her  whole 
soul.  What  will  not  love  prompt  its  subjects  to  do  for  those 
beloved  ? What  are  hireling  services,  forced  services,  and 
all  other  services,  compared  with  those  prompted  by  personal 
attachment,  whether  friendly,  parental,  filial,  or  connubial  ? 

Another  example  more  in  point.  See  how  children  learn 
who  like  their  teacher.  See  how  tardy  their  progress  when 
they  go  to  a teacher,  however  good,  whom  they  dislike.  Make, 
then,  your  children  love  you  first.  Till  you  do  this,  your 
moulding  power  over  them  is  limited.  Get  their  hatred,  and 
you  cannot  do  anything  with  them.  If  they  obey,  it  is  with 
reluctance  and  as  badly  as  possible.  All  you  say  they  reject. 
All  you  do  they  dislike,  and  the  more  so  the  greater  their  hatred. 
But  get  their  love,  and  they  drink  in  all  you  say.  They  spring 
with  celerity  to  do  all  you  wish,  and  consider  themselves  most 
happy  in  being  able  to  serve  you.  And  they  do  for  you  as 
well  as  they  can.  Nothing  can  as  effectually  secure  perfect 
obedience  as  affection,  and  the  more  perfect  the  latter  the 
more  complete  the  former. 

Get  their  love,  and  what  you  say  finds  its  way  into  their 
inmost  souls,  and  exerts  a moulding  and  controlling  influence 
11* 


126 


PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 


over  their  character  and  conduct.  Your  words  now  are  clothed 
with  unction  and  authority.  Your  advice  is  more  potent  in  its 
influence  over  them  than  the  mandate  of  kings.  Their  confi- 
dence in  you  is  perfect.  They  yield  themselves  up  willing 
slaves  to  whatever  influences  you  choose  to  exert  over  them.  Is 
not  this  a law  of  mind — a necessary  consequence  of  affection  ? 

Then  apply  its  all-potent  power  to  the  government  of  chil- 
dren. Where  else  can  it  be  exerted  with  equal  advantage  ? 
By  a law  of  things,  the  influence  of  parents  over  their  chil- 
dren should  be  complete,  almost  despotic  ; but  it  should  be  the 
despotism  of  love,  not  of  fear.  Parents  were  ordained  to 
love  their  children  partly,  if  not  mainly,  to  awaken  the  recip- 
rocal love  of  their  children  in  return,  in  order  to  give  them 
this  power  over  their  yet  plastic  characters,  so  that  they  may 
mould  them  at  pleasure.  Children  naturally  love  those  who 
love  them.  They  soon  know  who  like  them,  and  they  cling 
around  them,  clamber  on  their  knees,  and  make  free  to  play 
with  them,  and  surrender  themselves  voluntary  subjects  to 
their  power.  This,  all  must  have  observed.  And  what  un- 
bounded influence  such  affection  confers  on  those  beloved 
over  those  who  love ! What  could  as  effectually  secure 
parental  forbearance  or  servitude  as  parental  love  ? This 
love  makes  parents  perfect  drudges,  aye,  even  abject  slaves, 
to  their  children.  Then  will  not  getting  the  affections  of 
children  make  them  as  perfect  slaves  to  you,  as  you  to  them  ? 
I repeat,  get  their  love  first.  Till  then,  try  to  do  nothing. 
However  bad  their  conduct,  say  nothing,  do  nothing,  which 
shall  weaken  their  love.  Say  everything,  do  everything,  to 
rivet  that  love  first:  govern  afterward.  And  to  do  this, 
love  them.  Children  like  those  who  like  them.  Caress 
children.  Cultivate  good  feeling  with  them.  Above  all 
things,  make  them  happy.  That  this  happiness  is  the  great 
basis  of  all  love,  is  fully  shown  in  the  author’s  work  on 
“ Matrimony.”  To  get  a child’s  love  is  the  most  easy  thing  in 
the  world.  They  have  a faculty  of  filial  affection,  located 
by  the  side  of  Parental  Love,  which  appreciates  these  bless- 
ings showered  from  the  hand  of  parental  love.  Give  a child 
its  daily  Dread  without  unkindness,  and  that  child  will  love 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


127 


you.  It  is  natural  for  children  to  look  up  with  a dutiful, 
affectionate  eye  to  those  who  feed  and  clothe  them.  Much 
more  so  when  you  caress  them.  Children  naturally  love 
those  who  treat  them  kindly ; much  more  their  parents,  who 
should  treat  them  affectionately.  Caress  children  and  gratify 
them  as  often  as  possible,  by  taking  them  out  to  walk  or  ride, 
by  feeding  their  intellects,  and  making  them  presents  of  toys, 
garments,  etc.,  and  any  child  will  feel  spontaneous  love  and 
gratitude  to  its  benefactor.  Affection  and  gratitude  are  indi- 
genous in  the  soil  of  the  youthful  heart,  and  they  are  virtues 
which  should  by  all  means  be  cultivated.  This,  those  who 
have  the  care  of  children  have  every  possible  opportunity  of 
doing.  They  are  obliged  to  feed  and  clothe  them,  and  in 
doing  this,  their  duty  and  pleasure,  they  can  plant  a feeling  of 
gratitude  and  love  in  the  bosom  of  any  child,  however  hard- 
ened or  abandoned,  which  can  never  be  erased,  and  will 
make  those  children  the  most  faithful  servants,  the  most  will- 
ing and  obedient,  imaginable.  Let  children  but  see  in  you  a 
disposition  to  gratify  them  as  far  as  is  proper,  and  because 
you  love  them,  and  to  deny  them  nothing  except  their  own 
good  requires  it,  and  they  will  soon  love  you  with  a pathos 
and  fervency  which  will  make  them  bound  with  delight  to 
fulfil  your  every  wish.  Your  requests  have  but  to  be  made 
known,  and  they  experience  the  most  heartfelt  delight  in  grat- 
ifying their  beloved  benefactor.  Pursue  this  course  a single 
year,  and  the  worst  child  that  ever  was  will  be  subdued  by  it. 
There  is  no  withstanding  its  power.  Kindness  will  melt  a 
heart  of  stone,  and  produce  kindness  in  return. 

And  what  facilities  for  gaining  their  affections,  and  of  course 
exerting  this  power,  at  all  to  be  compared  to  those  enjoyed  by 
parents  ? That  very  care  which  this  faculty  requires  and 
induces  parents  to  bestow  upon  their  children,  gives  the  for- 
mer a constant  succession  of  opportunities  the  most  favorable 
for  getting  their  love.  And  were  these  opportunities  thrust 
upon  them  for  naught?  Were  they  not  created  to  be  im- 
proved ? Does  not  the  mere  fact  of  their  existence  show  that 
they  should  be  exercised  ? Every  garment  we  procure,  every 
meal  we  provide  for  them,  every  constantly  returning  want 


128 


PHIL0PR0GENITIVENES3. 


we  supply,  furnishes  a fresh  opportunity  for  awakening  in  then 
susceptible  souls  new  emotions  of  gratitude  and  love,  by  im- 
proving which  it  is  possible  to  make  them  love  us  so  tenderly 
and  devotedly  that  they  will  almost  lay  down  their  lives  for 
our  sakes — will  at  least  do  everything  we  require  of  them, 
and  avoid  doing  anything  to  displease  us.  This  is  the  great 
rod  parents  should  hold  over  their  children — love.  O parents, 
we  do  not  duly  love  these  little  helpless  innocents  committed 
to  our  care.  We  do  not  forbear  enough.  We  do  not  put  in 
practice  that  “new  commandment”  which  superseded,  be- 
cause it  embodied,  the  whole  decalogue,  that  we  love  ouk 
children.  Incalculable  good  to  them  and  happiness  to  our 
own  souls  would  spring  from  fulfilling  this  blessed  law. 

Yet  parents,  especially  mothers,  are  less  deficient  in  the 
quantity  of  their  parental  love  than  in  its  quality.  They  often 
love  their  children  enough,  yet  not  aright  m.  Especially  they 
too  often  fail  to  love  them  intellectually  and  morally  211 . 
They  often  simply  love  them,  or  else  love  them  as  dolls,  which 
they  can  dress  and  rig  off  in  gaudy  trappings,  or  to  make  a 
brilliant  display  in  fashionable  society.  Such  love  is  ruinous 
to  parents  and  children  2U.  How  many,  O how  many  chil- 
dren has  over- weaning  parental  love,  unguided  by  the  higher 
faculties,  literally  spoiled — worse  than  spoiled — rendered  per- 
fect pests  to  society,  who  might  have  been  made  great  bless- 
ings. Readers,  have  you  never  seen  those  thus  spoiled  ? 
Have  not  the  children  of  many  readers  even  been  seriously 
injured  in  mind  and  body  by  excessive  tenderness 98 145  and 
foolish  trifling.  Love  your  children,  but  guide  your  parental 
yearnings  and  training  by  the  dictates  of  enlightened  intellect 
and  govern  it  by  high  moral  feeling. 

222.  MATERNAL  LOVE  AND  DUTY. 

To  mothers,  these  principles  apply  with  redoubled  force. 
By  a law  of  their  being  this  organ  is  much  larger  in  them  than 
in  fathers.  Hence  a father’s  love  bears  no  comparison  with 
a mother’s  in  intensity  and  fervor ; and  therefore  her  efforts 
for  their  good  are  and  should  be  proportionally  greater  than 
his  Maternal  yearnings,  how  powerful,  how  inexpressibly 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


129 


tender — almost  infinitely  more  so  than  paternal  Nature  or- 
dains that  this  should  be  thus.  She  requires  the  mother  to 
nurse  her  offspring,  and,  as  accompaniments,  that  she  dress 
and  undress,  feed  and  watch  over  them,  and  bestow  all  those 
little  cares  and  attentions,  far  more,  relatively,  than  fathers ; 
and  to  fit  her  for  her  office  as  nurse,  has  conferred  on  her  this 
extra  endowment  of  parental  love. 

But  this  love  does  not  end  in  merely  feeding,  clothing,  and 
tending  them.  It  caresses  and  yearns  over  them  from  before 
they  see  the  light,  all  along  up  through  adolescence,  and  thus 
wins  upon  their  love  in  return,  so  that  children  generally  love 
their  mothers  more  than  their  fathers,  and  hence,  when  sick, 
forsake  all  others  for  their  mother’s  arms.  They  even  carry 
to  her  first,  to  her  mainly,  all  their  little  joys  and  griefs,  and 
aches,  nor  carry  in  vain,  but  receive  her  sympathy  in  return. 
This  far  greater  love  of  children  for  their  mothers  than  fathers, 
consequent  on  the  greater  love  of  mothers  than  of  fathers  for 
their  children,  gives  mothers  a correspondingly  greater  influ- 
ence over  them  than  fathers.  And  this  influence  enables 
mothers  to  mould  their  plastic  characters  far  more  than  fathers. 
And  how  admirably  do  woman’s  naturally  fine  susceptibilities 
and  her  exquisiteness  of  feeling  qualify  her  to  instil  into  their 
tender  minds  a love  of  purity  and  goodness,  and  a disgust  and 
abhorrence  of  vice.  Nor  can  any  other  being  fill  her  place,  or 
discharge  the  duties  required  by  nature  at  maternal  hands. 
These  high  and  holy  duties  cannot  possibly  be  filled  by  proxy. 
None  can  love  them  as  their  mothers  can  ; and  this  love  is  in- 
dispensable to  their  proper  nursing  and  education.  All  the 
nurses,  all  the  teachers  in  creation,  can  do  comparatively  no- 
thing. In  consequence  of,  and  in  proportion  to,  this  love,  chil- 
dren drink  in  all  their  mother  says  and  does.  They  give 
themselves  up  wholly  to  whatever  influences  she  may  exert 
over  them.  They  are  the  clay,  she  the  potter.  She  moulds 
them  while  yet  plastic,  into  this  shape  or  that,  or  in  accordance 
with  the  prevailing  characteristics  of  her  own  mind,  and  time 
hardens  and  burns  them  in  the  shape  she  fashions.  Her 
feelings  they  imbibe.  Her  disposition  they  assume.  What 
she  is,  they  become. 


130 


PHILOPROGEN^VENESS. 


Again  : home  education  or  no  education.  Unless  children 
learn  good  manners  at  home  they  will  be  coarse  and  vulgar 
through  life.  Unless  they  learn  refinement  of  sentiment  and 
delicacy  of  feeling  at  home,  and  mainly  from  their  mothers, 
they  can  never  possess  either,  except  in  a lower  degree.  Un- 
less their  intellects  receive  an  early  maternal  direction  in  the 
paths  of  study  and  thought — unless  mothers  draw  out  their 
opening  minds  from  day  to  day,  and  create  in  them  a hunger- 
ing and  thirsting  after  knowledge,  and  mental  progression — 
they  can  never  be  learned  or  great,  and  the  opportunities  mo- 
thers possess  for  developing  their  intellects  incomparably  ex- 
ceed those  in  the  power  of  all  others.  Especially  must  mothers 
mould  and  fashion  their  moral  characters.  But  we  shall 
reach  this  point  more  effectually  when  we  come  to  analyze  the 
moral  faculties.  Suffice  it  to  say,  families  are  the  school- 
houses,  and  mothers  the  teachers  of  children.  This  is  nature’s 
inflexible  ordinance.  Behold,  O mothers,  and  tremble  in  view 
of  the  momentous  responsibilities  imposed  on  you  by  this  law 
of  your  being  ! 

You  plead  a want  of  time.  But  should  you  not  do  that  first 
which  is  most  important  ? 495  And  what  is,  what  can  be  more 
momentous  than  to  develop  by  cultivation  their  physical,  in 
tellectual,  and  moral  powers — than  to  give  them  strong  bodies 
powerful  minds,  and  high-toned  moral  characters  ? Happi 
ness  being  the  great  end  of  life  l,  and  mind  being  the  grand 
instrumentality  of  all  enjoyment 19 — since  all  our  pleasures 
flow  from  its  right  exercise,  all  our  pains  from  its  abnormal 
action  208 — of  course  nothing  whatever  can  equal  the  para- 
mount importance  of  its  proper  training.  This,  you,  mothers, 
must  do.  You,  therefore,  not  nurses,  not  teachers,  but  ye 
mothers,  in  and  by  becoming  mothers,  place  yourselves  under 
obligations  the  most  solemn  and  imperious  to  cultivate  all  the 
higher  powers  of  their  being.  Nor  are  mortals  permitted  to 
fill  any  relations  at  all  to  be  compared  with  yours  in  their 
mighty  influence  on  the  weal  and  wo  of  man.  How  com 
pletely  the  virtue  or  vice,  happiness  or  misery,  of  your  own 
dear  children  is  determined  by  the  training  they  receive  at 
your  hands  ! — the  power  of  hereditary  influences  over  char 


DUTY  OF  MOTHERS. 


131 


acter.  is  fully  admitted,  but  has  been  treated  by  the  author  in 
a separate  volume,  entitled  “ Hereditary  Descent” — nor  their 
destiny  merely,  but  that  of  the  world  ; because,  as  is  your 
training  of  them,  so  are  they,  and  as  they  are,  so  is  the  race  ! 
Ye  mothers  hold  the  keys  of  human  weal  and  wo.  O think 
of  it!  The  characters  and  destinies  of  your  dear  children 
under  your  control!  Nay,  you  must  wield  them.  Willing 
or  unwilling,  you  are  compelled  by  a law  of  your  being  to 
fashion  them,  or  else  leave  them  unfashioned.  By  a law  of 
things,  no  nurse,  no  other  human  being  can  love,  and  therefore 
influence,  your  children  as  you  can — as  you  are  compelled  to. 
You  cannot  shift  the  responsibility.  None  but  mothers  can 
experience  maternal  yearnings,  and  therefore  no  others  can 
fill  a mother’s  place  in  either  the  affections  of  their  children, 
or  in  her  moulding  influence  over  them 221 . An  opportunity  thus 
advantageous  for  achieving  results  thus  glorious — for  making 
your  own  dear  children  almost  angels  in  sweetness,  as  well  as 
mighty  in  intellect, — should  wake  up  all  the  energies  of  your 
souls,  and  prompt  you  to  put  forth  every  effort  of  which  you 
are  capable.  The  plastic  clay  lies  in  your  arms ; O make 
the  most  of  your  power  over  it.  You  love  your  dear  children  ; 
then  live  and  labor  for  them— not  for  their  outward  but  in- 
ward adorning — not  for  their  bodies  but  their  souls.  Pray 
earnestly  and  daily  for  needed  grace  and  wisdom,  nor  let  an 
hour  of  this  seed-time  of  life  go  unimproved. 

To  American  mothers  this  appeal  comes  home  with  redoubled 
force.  Our  country  is  the  hope,  our  institutions  the  prospective 
salvation  of  the  world.  Even  our  national  destiny  is  truly  mo- 
mentous. What  an  innate  power  and  vigor  does  republicanism 
possess  ! What  a mighty — all-controlling — influence  it  is  in 
the  power  of  our  nation  to  wield  over  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
condition  of  our  descendants  for  ages  on  ages  to  come  ! Not 
on  that  handful  which  now  inhabits  our  borders.  What  will 
be  our  numbers  in  fifty  years  ? 203  Some  who  now  read  these 
lines  will  live  to  see  it  out-number  all  Europe.  Let  our  old 
men  look  back  and  recount  the  growth  of  city  and  country 
since  they  can  remember,  and  from  the  data  thus  furnished 
calculate  what  sixty  or  a hundred  years  will  bring  forth  as  tp 


132 


PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 


numbers.  Be  assured  our  nation  is  no  trifle.  Consequence? 
infinitely  momentous  hang  suspended  on  its  prospective  fate. 
O what  finite,  what  angelic  mind — what  but  Infinitude — can 
calculate  the  height,  length,  breadth,  and  fearful  magnitude  of 
those  results  which  depend  on  the  character  of  our  nation,  the 
course  it  pursues,  the  political,  intellectual,  and  moral  aspect 
it  assumes  ! Nor  will  these  momentous  results  be  bounded  by 
our  national  limits,  nor  even  by  our  continental.  Every  hu- 
man being,  for  ages  and  ages  to  come,  will  feel  their  power, 
and  be  rendered  more  happy  or  miserable  according  as  they 
are  good  or  bad.  O,  I tremble  while  I contemplate  the  mighty 
power  for  good  and  for  evil  which  remains  to  be  developed  as 
our  nation  rolls  along  down  the  vista  of  futurity ! 

But,  though  this  power  will  be  exerted  many  centuries  hence, 
it  will  be  formed  soon — is  now  rapidly  forming.  Our  na- 
tional  character,  like  that  infant  in  your  arms,  is  yet  plastic, 
waiting  to  receive  its  shape,  which  time  will  then  render  rigid, 
so  that  it  can  be  altered  only  by  being  broken  in  pieces. 
“ Now  is  the  accepted  time.55  We  and  our  children  must 
determine  practically, the  character  of  this  republic,  and 
through  it,  of  the  whole  human  family  for  centuries  to  come  ! 
And  as  we,  and  especially  you,  mothers,  must  fashion  the 
characters  of  your  children,  and  through  them,  measurably, 
of  this  republic,  of  course  you,  in  and  by  the  impress  you  are 
daily  and  hourly  stamping  upon  your  offspring,  are  constantly 
and  practically  moulding  our  national  character.  Some  of 
you  are  now  nursing  our  future  state  and  national  legislators 
and  presidents,  and  every  one  of  your  sons  who  lives  to  become 
a man  will  help  to  cast  that  national  die  which  shall  deter- 
mine the  character  of  our  republic,  and  through  it  the  desti- 
nies of  our  race  ! An  experiment  as  big  with  human  weal  or 
wo  as  that  of  self-government,  which  we  are  now  trying,  has 
never  before  been  submitted  for  practical  solution ; nor  can 
be  again  for  ages  to  come.  If  this  experiment  should  fail, 
man  must  relapse  into  the  fatal  folds  of  monarchy,  there  to  re- 
main for  centuries  before  deliverance  can  come.  If  we  make 
shipwreck,  all  is  lost  for  hundreds  of  years,  at  least.  But  if 
we  are  true  to  the  trusts  committed  by  our  pilgrim-fathers  to 


DUTY  OF  AMERICAN  MOTHERS. 


133 


our  hands — and  such  sacred  trusts  mortals  never  before  com- 
mitted or  received — then  will  millennial  glory  soon  burst  upon 
our  world,  and  earth  become  a paradise  ! The  influence  of 
religion  in  effecting  this  result,  is  not  denied — is  fully  appre- 
ciated— but  republicanism  alone  can  purify  religion  from  the 
dross  monarchy  necessarily  intermingles  with  it.  True  reli- 
gion is  utterly  incompatible  with  monarchy,  and  can  flourish 
like  the  green-bay  tree  only  in  republican  soil.  Christ  was 
no  aristocrat.  His  doctrines  are  republicanism  personified.  I 
will  not  digress  to  qualify  farther,  but  trust  I shall  not  be  mis- 
understood. O how  infinitely  much  depends  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  our  nation  ! And  this  upon  the  characters  of  our  chil- 
dren ! And  this  upon  the  training  they  receive  from  their 
mothers  ! O American  mothers,  actual  and  prospective,  angels 
might  well  sink  under  the  responsibilities  now  incumbent  on 
you  ! Nor  can  you  become  mothers  without  incurring  these 
awful  responsibilities.  Yet  archangels  might  well  rejoice  to 
be  intrusted  with  privileges  like  these ! Behold  the  incalcu- 
lable good  it  is  in  your  power  to  effect,  nor  for  your  children 
themselves  merely,  but  mainly  for  all  mankind  ! O save  our 
institutions — save  republicanism — from  shipwreck. 

The  danger  is  imminent.  I would  not  turn  groundless 
alarmist,  but  I do  tremble  for  my  country.  When  I see  so 
many  of  our  youth  growing  up  in  ignorance  and  lawless  row- 
dyism— when  I see  how  easy  selfish  and  designing  men  lead 
the  masses  astray  in  politics  and  religion ; how  easily  the 
many  are  hoodwinked,  and  carried  willing  captives  by  corrupt 
and  self-constituted  leaders ; above  all,  when  I see  what  po- 
litical and  governmental  enormities  can  go  unrebuked — can 
even  be  made  popular,  and  thus  the  precursors  of  still  greater 
outrages  on  justice  and  humanity — my  soul  sinks  within  me, 
and  I dread  the  opening  of  the  seal  of  our  national  character. 
Nor  have  I any  hope  but  in  our  mothers.  Sleep  on  one  gen- 
eration longer,  and  all  is  lost ! But  wake  up  at  once  to  your 
high  duty  and  privilege — train  up  your  sons  to  guide  and  gov- 
ern this  ark  of  our  republic,  which  incloses  the  tables  of  the 
world’s  destinies,  aright,  till  its  character  is  once  set — and  the 
world’s  salvation,  in  addition  to  the  unspeakable  happiness  of 
12 


134 


PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 


your  children,  and  your  children’s  children  to  the  latest  gen- 
eration, is  your  and  their  blessed  reward  ! May  God  open 
your  eyes  and  stir  up  your  souls  to  these  momentous  truths, 
and  enable  and  dispose  you  to  put  them  in  practice ! 

Hark  ! Hear  ye  yonder  long  and  loud  blast  of  a trumpet  ? 
It  is  the  angel  of  Truth,  summoning  woman  to  a grand  assem- 
blage. And  now,  behold  woman  of  all  ages,  ranks,  occupations, 
colors,  and  nations,  stands  before  him.  Hear  what  he  saith : 
“ Lo  I come  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Millennium.  Woman, 
my  business  is  with  you.  As  are  ye,  so  are  your  children, 
and  so  is  the  world.  I come  to  regenerate  your  race,  to 
c prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord,’  to  banish  vice  and  misery,  and 
establish  happiness  and  peace  on  earth  by  reforming  you. 
Your  life  is  now  a burden  and  a bubble,  4 a fleeting  show,  for 
man’s  illusion  given  ;’  I come  to  make  it  a reality  and  a pleas- 
ure. You  now  spend  your  precious  existence  in  trifling. 
Turn  ye,  turn  ye  to  your  nature  and  your  natural  duties. 
Ye  unmarried,  what  are  ye  doing  ? Young  women,  how  do 
ye  spend  your  time  ? In  changing  the  fashions  of  your 
dresses  every  few  days,  either  for  the  convivial  ball  and  party, 
or  to  profane  the  holy  sanctuary  of  your  God  ! Have  ye  no 
other  and  more  important  duties  to  perform — duties  to  your 
race,  not  to  your  toilet  ? God  has  sent  me  with  this  man- 
date, Prepare  yourselves  to  become  wives  and  mothers^  Strip 
off  your  gaudy  attire,  and  array  yourselves  in  the-  orna- 
ments of  nature’s  loveliness.  Be  yourselves,  as  God  cre- 
ated you,  and  no  longer  blaspheme  your  Maker  by  preferring 
artificial  ornaments  to  the  beauties  and  the  graces  of  your 
nature.  Be  yourselves,  and  you  will  be  infinitely  more 
lovely  and  happy  than  now.  Be  yourselves  ; for  now  a part 
of  you  are  parlor  toys  or  puppet  shows,  and  the  rest  are  kitchen 
drudges,  or  fashionable  slaves.  Be  yourselves!  for  you 
will  soon  be  called  upon  to  educate  those  sons  which  will 
guide  and  govern  the  world.  For  your  own  sakes,  for  the 
sake  of  all  coming  ages,  be  yourselves  ! 

“ And  ye  mothers,  pause  and  consider  ! Stop  short ! for  ye 
are  spoiling  God’s  works,  whereas  ye  were  placed  here  to 
burnish  them.  Now,  ye  are  most  unprofitable  servants.  O 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


135 


“will  ye  not  learn  wisdom  ? O mothers ! mothers  ! your  race  is 
imploring  salvation  at  your  hands  ! Ye  can  bestow  it,  and  ye 
must.  Go  your  way  ; first  learn  your  duty,  and  then  DO  it.” 

Woman  listens,  weeps,  repents,  and  reforms.  The  millen- 
nium dawns — our  race  is  saved.  Vice  is  banished,  misery 
follows,  Eden  is  re-opened,  and  pseans  of  praise  break  forth 
from  all  flesh. 

223.  ITS  CULTIVATION  IN  THE  UNMARRRIED  AND  CHILDREN. 

Though  the  true  way  to  exercise  this  faculty  is  to  have  and 
love  children  of  our  own,  yet  the  unmarried,  and  those  with- 
out offspring,  should  not  remain  destitute  of  those  excellent 
influences  diffused  by  this  faculty  over  the  soul.  Those  who 
have  no  children  of  their  own  are  apt  to  be  too  harsh  and  im- 
perative toward  children.  How  often  they  say,  “ Well,  if  I 
had  children,  Fd  not  let  them  run  over  and  trample  on  me  in 
this  kind  of  style,  and  all  because  you  indulge  them  so.  Fd 
make  them  know  their  place,  and  keep  in  it,  too ; indeed  I 
would.”  Yet  they  prove  quite  as  lenient  to  their  children  as 
those  whom  they  before  censured  so  unsparingly.  The  rea- 
son is  this.  Till  Philoprogenitiveness  is  developed  by  having 
children  of  our  own  to  love,  it  lies  comparatively  dormant, 
but  becomes  powerfully  excited  by  the  presentation  of  this  its 
appropriate  stimulant,  so  that  they  not  only  become  indulgent 
to  their  own  children,  but  lenient  to  all  others.  Those  who 
are  not  parents,  are  therefore  no  proper  judges  of  the  way 
children  should  be  managed.  They  are  not  duly  lenient. 
This  faculty  has  not  its  due  influence.  It  should  therefore 
be  cultivated.  And  this  can  be  done  by  taking  an  interest  in 
children,  their  gambols,  and  improvement,  by  playing  with 
and  noticing,  petting,  and  talking  to  them — in  short,  by  exer- 
cising this  faculty214  toward  them.  And  such  regard  in  a 
young  man  or  woman  for  children,  gives  assurance  that  its 
possessors  will  be  fond  and  indulgent  parents,  and  live  in  and 
for  their  children. 

It  may  also  be  cultivated,  in  a lower  degree,  by  having 
pets,  favorite  birds,  dogs,  cats,  lambs,  cattle,  horses,  and  even 
flowers  and  trees. 


136 


ADHESIVENESS. 


It  should  also  be  cultivated  in  children.  It  forms  a pait  of 
their  natures,  and  its  due  exercise  is  indisper  sable  in  softening 
and  improving  their  characters,  and  especially  in  fitting  them, 
as  they  grow  up,  to  become  affectionate  parents.  To  do  this, 
get  them  dolls,  hobby-horses,  favorite  toys,  and  playthings, 
and  encourage  them  to  tend  and  pet  them.  And,  when  old 
enough,  let  them  have  birds,  or  other  live  pets,  to  feed  and 
caress.  In  short,  place  the  stimuli  of  this  faculty  before  it, 
and  thus  promote  its  exercise214.  Especially,  they  should  be 
furnished  with  playmates,  and  encouraged  to  play  affection- 
ately with  other  children.  Yet  this  involves  also — 


3.  ADHESIVENESS. 

“ A new  commandment  give  I unto  you,  that  ye  love  one  another.”  “ Love  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law.” 

224.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  ADAPTATION. 

Friendship  ; the  social  instinct  ; love  of  society  ; desire 
and  ability  to  congregate,  associate,  visit,  form  and  recip- 
rocate attachments,  entertain  friends,  and  seek  company  ; 
cordiality.  Located  an  inch  and  a half  upward  and  outward 
from  Parental  Love.  Or  thus:  place  one  angle  of  an  equilat- 
eral triangle,  the  sides  of  which  are  an  inch  and  a half  long, 
on  Parental  Love,  and  the  other  two  angles  will  be  on  the  two 
lobes  of  Adhesiveness.  It  is  large  in  the  accompanying  en- 
graving. It  joins  Parentiveness. 

225.  LARGE  AND  SMALL. 

Large  Adhesiveness  loves  company,  forms  friends  easily, 
and  seeks  their  society  often ; is  confiding  and  cordial,  and 
liable  to  be  easily  influenced  by  friends ; trusts  in  them,  and 
will  not  believe  wrong  of  them  ; has  many  friends,  and  takes 
great  pleasure  in  their  society;  places  friends  before  business  ; 
and  feels  lost  when  separated  from  them,  and  almost  distracted 
at  their  death. 

Small  Friendship  is  cold,  unsocial,  averse  to  company,  un 
congenial,  unconfiding,  forms  attachments  slowly,  and  then 


;TS  FUNCTION. 


137 


LARGE  ADHESIVENESS 


breaks  them  for  slight  causes,  and  places  business  and  the 
other  faculties  before  friendship.  Such  have  few  friends,  and 
usually  many  enemies. 

226.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Adapted  to  man’s  requisition  for  society,  combination,  and 
trommunity  of  interest.  Without  this  or  a kindred  faculty  to 
bring  mankind  together  into  villages,  companies,  and  families, 
every  human  being  would  have  wandered  up  and  down  in  the 
earth  alone,  alienated  from  all  others,  his  hand,  Ishmael-like, 
“ against  every  man,  and  every  man’s  hand  against  him,” 
without  society,  without  any  community  of  feeling  or  concert 
of  action,  and  even  without  written  or  verbal  language,  and 
consequently  destitute  of  all  the  pleasures  and  advantages 
now  derived  from  conversation,  news,  papers,  sermons,  lec- 
tures, schools,  and  the  institutions  to  which  they  have  given 
12* 


138 


ADHESIVENESS. 


rise,  and  also  without  one  friendly  feeling  to  soften  down  his 
austerity  and  wrath,  or  draw  him  toward  his  fellow-man. 
Consequently,  nothing  could  have  been  done  more  than  one 
could  do  alone — no  companies  formed  for  trade,  mechanical, 
public,  or  other  works ; no  religious,  political,  scientific,  or 
other  societies  would  have  been  formed ; and  no  commu- 
nity of  interest,  or  feeling,  and  concert  of  action,  as  well  as 
direct  pleasure  in  friendship,  could  have  been  experienced. 
And  since  each  faculty  in  one  constitutionally  excites  the 
same  faculties  in  others215,  and  thereby  all  the  other  faculties, 
without  friendship  to  bring  mankind  together  so  that  their 
faculties  may  mutually  excite  each  other,  half  his  faculties, 
having  little  or  nothing  to  stimulate  them,  would  have  lain 
dormant,  and  the  balance  have  been  but  feebly  exercised. 
Without  friendship  to  bring  mankind  together,  ambition,  imita- 
tion, mirth,  kindness,  justice,  and  many  of  his  other  faculties, 
would  have  had  only  an  exceedingly  limited  arena  for  their 
exercise  ; concert  of  action  could  not  have  been  secured  ; and 
green-eyed  jealousy,  burning  animosity,  and  dire  revenge, 
would  have  blotted  out  the  pleasant  smile  of  glowing  attach- 
ment, palsied  the  hand  of  friendship,  suppressed  the  cordial 
greeting  of  old  associates,  and  converted  into  rancorous  hate 
that  silent  flow  of  perpetual  happiness  which  springs  from  the 
exercise  of  this  faculty. 

The  cultivation  of  an  element  thus  beneficial  in  its  influence 
is,  therefore,  most  important.  Men  should  not  wrap  them- 
selves up  in  the  frigid  cloak  of  selfish  isolation,  but  should 
open  their  generous  souls  to  the  reception  and  expression  of 
cordial  friendship.  We  were  not  created  to  live  alone,  nor  can 
we  close  the  door  of  warm-hearted  friendship  without  shutting 
out  the  light  and  warmth  of  life,  and  locking  ourselves  up  in  the 
dark  dungeon  of  exclusiveness.  The  recluse  and  the  misan- 
thrope violate  a fundamental  law  of  their  being — this  cardi- 
nal law  of  love — and  sufler  the  penalty  in  that  desolation  of 
soul  which  congeals  all  the  finer  and  sweeter  emotions  of  life. 
The  aristocrat  is  not  human.  He  stifles  an  important  element 
of  his  nature,  and  is  therefore  maimed  and  halt,  destitute  of 
this  cardinal  virtue*  Would  that  such  could  see  no  human 


ARISTOCRACY. 


139 


soul  till  their  icy  fetters  broke  loose,  and  they  could  once 
more  look  upon  all  mankind  as  brothers,  and  greet  them  as 
friends. 

And  are  these  money-made  nabobs  really  so  far  above  their 
fellow-men  ? Can  standing  on  a paltry  pile  of  shining  dust 
make  fnem  men  ? Is  the  possession  of  wealth  indeed  so 
much  above  that  of  worth  ? Do  not  the  human  virtues  con- 
stitute nature’s  noblemen  ? Who  are  her  aristocracy  and 
crowned  heads  ? Shall  things  be  exalted  above  men  ? Shall 
money,  the  work  of  men’s  hands,  be  rated  above  intellectual 
greatness  and  moral  worth — the  highest  works  of  God  ? 
And  so  much  above,  that  the  holders  of  the  former  disdain  to 
exchange  the  look  of  recognition  ? And  all  in  this  land  con- 
secrated to  equality  ? Republicans,  ha ! yet  too  grand  to 
speak  to  brother  republicans  and  even  human  brothers ! 
Great  republicanism,  this ! Aristocratical  distinctions  here, 
on  this  soil  consecrated  to  freedom  and  “ equal  rights  !”  Out 
upon  such  grandiloquent  pretenders — such  apes  of  feudal 
nobility ! If  you  are  indeed  so  extra  noble,  produce  your 
title,  and  then  abdicate  these  shores  consecrated  not  to  rank, 
but  to  equality.  This  is  no  place  for  you.  Would  it  not  be 
impertinence — a breach  of  every  principle  of  decency — for 
an  infidel  to  thrust  his  doctrines  upon  a religious  assembly  ? 
and  is  it  not  more  so  for  you  to  thrust  your  aristocracy  into 
the  faces  of  us  freemen  ? This  is  our  soil,  not  yours.  These 
are  freedom’s  borders,  set  apart  and  baptized  to  liberty,  not 
to  cast.  Why  inflict  yourselves  upon  us?  Here  you  are 
eyesores.  Our  fathers  fled  from  just  such  claims  as  you  set 
up,  and  came  here  that  they  might  sit,  unmolested  by  aristo- 
cratical pretensions,  “ under  their  own  vines  and  fig-trees”  of 
equality.  And  yet  you  indecently  and  impertinently  set  your- 
selves up  right  here  in  our  very  midst  as  our  chiefs,  to  be 
looked  up  to  and  bowed  down  to,  just  because  you  possess — 
perhaps  wrongfully — a few  more  dollars  than  we.  If  you 
will  be  so  grand,  go  to  England,  or  Russia,  or  Turkey,  where 
cast  forms  a part  of  their  institutions — not  force  yourselves 
upon  us  freemen.  You  have  no  right  to  stay  on  our  soil 
unless  you  will  consent  to  stay  as  our  equals.  If  you  are 


140 


ADHESIVENESS. 


too  good  to  be  our  friends,  go  where  men  are  good  enough  so 
that  you  can  deign  to  speak  to  and  associate  with  them  on 
friendly  terms.  Why  don’t  you  ? Because  your  aristocrat- 
ical  pretensions  would  not  pass  current  there.  The  mushroom, 
codfish,  stockjobbing  aristocracy  of  our  nation  is  utterly  con- 
temptible anywhere,  but  a perfect  outrage  in  this  country. 
I repeat,  away  with  you.  You  are  usurpers  and  traitors  to 
our  institutions.  Go  home,  go  home  to  the  old  wTorld  and  stay 
there,  not  inflict  your  puerile  pretensions  upon  us  freemen, 
and  in  our  own  temple  of  liberty  and  equality.  Come,  hurry, 
and  be  off.  Or  else,  down  with  your  flag  of  exclusiveness. 
Meet  us  as  equals,  and  we  will  let  you  stay  and  make  you 
welcome.  Come,  off  with  you,  or  else  subscribe  practically 
to  our  constitution  of  equality. 

And  let  us  all  cultivate  cordiality  and  brotherly  love  to- 
ward all  mankind.  Let  travellers  and  all  who  are  casually 
thrown  together,  whether  temporarily  or  permanently,  open 
the  portals  of  their  hearts,  and  “ scrape  acquaintance”  at  once. 
Let  them  freely  exchange  views  and  feelings,  and  wile  away 
their  otherwise  tedious  hours  by  social  conversation  and 
friendly  chit-chat.  These  modern  ceremonies,  this  requiring 
formal  introductions,  and  punctiliously  waiting  for  the  last 
call  to  be  returned,  or  letter  to  be  answered  before  friendly  in- 
tercourse is  resumed,  are  cast  completely  into  the  shade  by  this 
great  requisition  for  the  unrestrained  exercise  of  cordial 
friendship. 

This  demand  for  friendship  applies  with  redoubled  force 
to  members  of  the  same  family.  Let  parents  cultivate  affec- 
tion for  one  another  in  their  children,  and  let  brothers  and 
sisters  separate  as  little  as  possible,  correspond  much,  never 
allow  a breach  to  be  made  in  'heir  attachments,  and  continu- 
ally add  new  fuel  to  the  old  fire  of  family  friendship.  Let  the 
right  hand  of  hospitality  be  extended  oftener  than  it  now  is, 
and  let  friends  entertain  friends  around  the  family  board,  as 
frequently  as  possible,  instead  of  allowing  them  to  eat  their 
unsocial  fare  at  the  public  hotel.  We  have  too  little  of  the 
good  old  custom  of  “ eousining,”  and  of  English  hospitality  ; 
and  spend  far  too  little  time  in  making  and  receiving  social 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


141 


visits.  Still,  these  formal,  polite  calls  are  erfeet  nonsense 
— are  to  friendship  what  smut  is  to  grain — poisonous.  True 
friendship  knows  no  formality.  Those  who  are  so  very  oolite 
to  each  other  are  strangers  or  enemies,  not  friends;  for  true 
friendship  knows  no  ceremonious  formality,  but  expires  the 
moment  it  is  shackled  by  the  rules  of  modern  politeness. 
We  should  all  love  society,  and,  as  often  as  may  be,  relax 
from  the  more  severe  duties  of  life  to  indulge  it ; but  let  not 
etiquette  mar  this  perfect  freedom  of  intercourse.  True 
friendship  unbosoms  the  heart  cordially  and  freely,  and  pours 
forth  the  full  tide  of  reciprocal  feeling,  without  any  barrier, 
any  reserve.  The  mere  recreation  afforded  by  Adhesiveness 
is  invaluable,  especially  to  an  intellectual  man,  as  a means  of 
health,  and  to  augment  talents.  In  short,  seek  every  favor- 
able opportunity  to  exercise  this  faculty.  Choose  your  friends 
from  among  those  whose  feelings  and  opinions  harmonize  with 
your  own,  that  is,  in  whose  society  you  can  enjoy  yourself, 
and  then  frequently  interchange  friendly  feelings  with  them. 
And  do  not  break  up  your  youthful  associations,  if  you  can 
well  avoid  it.  If  you  do,  renew  them  as  soon  and  often  as 
possible.  Nothing  more  effectually  blunts,  and  therefore 
reduces,  this  faculty,  than  separation  from  friends,  especially 
from  those  who  have  sat  for  years  at  the  same  table,  and  be- 
come cordially  attached  to  each  other. 

And  this  idea  of  “ business  before  friends”  is  worse  than 
nonsense.  It  tramples  under  foot  one  of  virtue’s  fundamental 
laws,  as  well  as  means  of  enjoyment.  Rather  “ friends  before 
business.”  Or  still  better,  friends  and  business,  and  friends 
in  business.  Our  business  should  promote  friendship,  never 
retard  it. 

Association  might  be  so  conducted  as  to  furnish  a more 
powerful  and  constant  stimulant  to  this  faculty  than  any  other 
system  of  society.  Not  that  I endorse  the  doctrines  of  Fourier 
or  the  vagaries  of  Brisbane ; yet,  beyond  contradiction,  asso- 
ciations might  be  so  formed  and  conducted  as  to  give  this 
faculty  all  the  food  its  nature  requires,  or  could  bear — and  this 
is  a great  deal — and  also  to  avoid  those  frequent  separations 
of  friends  so  detrimental  to  this  faculty. 


142 


ADHESIVENESS. 


Giving  and  receiving  presents  is  also  directly  calculated 
to  stimulate  this  faculty  to  increased  action.  They  are  its 
natural  food,  with  which  let  it  be  fed  abundantly.  I like  the 
good  old  custom  of  thanksgivings,  of  making  new-year’s, 
and  other  presents,  and  thereby  promoting  good  feeling  between 
man  and  man,  as  well  as  kindling  anew  the  old  fires  of  friend- 
ship. Give  and  receive  presents,  and  hold  them  as  sacred 
tokens  of  that  union  of  soul  which  it  is  the  province  of  this 
faculty  to  create. 

Of  one  thing  I am  perfectly  certain,  that  mankind  know  and 
appreciate  almost  nothing  of  the  power  and  pleasures  capable 
of  being  conferred  by  this  faculty.  Friendship  has  hardly  yet 
begun  to  assert  its  supremacy  or  put  forth  its  mighty  power 
for  good.  It  is  now  a Sampson  shorn.  Let  its  locks  grow, 
and  it  is  a mighty  moral  giant,  capable  of  shaking  the  pillars 
of  the  whole  earth,  and  revolutionizing  society.  Christ  meant 
something  when  he  said,  “ If  two  of  you  shall  agree  touching 
anything  which  you  shall  ask  of  my  Father,  he  will  do  it  for 
you.”  That  old  saw  “ Union  is  strength”  is  not  a speak-word 
merely.  I fully  believe  that  this  simple  principle — the  union 
and  co-operation  of  the  friends  of  the  different  branches  of 
reform  now  in  progress — is  destined  soon  to  crown  them  all 
with  complete  success.  We  are  all  brothers  in  feeling  and 
object.  All  we  require  is  to  unite  together — to  fuse  our  feel- 
ings, and  merge  our  efforts  into  one  community  of  kindred 
souls — and  we  can  carry  the  world— not  a hundred  years 
hence,  but  on  the  very  year  of  our  union.  There  is  leaven 
enough  in  the  mass  to  lighten  it ; and  union  will  set  it  at 
work.  We  must  all  love  one  another,  and  this  will  dispose 
us  to  help  one  another,  and  this  will  hurl  every  existing  evil 
from  its  throne,  and  establish  the  institutions  of  society  on  the 
foundation  of  man’s  primitive  constitution. 

Though  this  friendship  should  be  thus  cultivated,  yet  great 
care  should  be  taken  to  choose  for  intimates  those  only  who 
will  exert  a good  influence  even  over  us.  In  making  others 
our  friends  we  virtually  surrender  ourselves  to  whatever  in- 
fluences they  may  exert  upon  us  222.  So  that  we  cannot  be 
too  careful  into  what  hands  we  intrust  a power  thus  intimatelv 


ITS  RESTRAINT. 


143 


affecting  our  weal  and  wo.  Yet  this  should  not  prevent  the 
formation  of  friendships ; especially,  it  should  not  intercept  those 
passing  acquaintances  just  recommended.  And  when  an  inti, 
mate,  cordial  friendship  is  once  formed,  let  not  trifles  be  allowed 
to  break  it  up.  This  blunting  and  searing  of  its  fine,  glowing 
feelings,  are  certainly  most  unfortunate.  Friendship  should 
be  regarded  as  most  sacred,  and  never  be  trifled  with.  Do 
almost  anything  sooner  than  sunder  its  tender  chords,  and  let 
friends  bear  and  forbear  much,  at  least  until  they  are  certain 
that  a supposed  injury  was  premeditated ; and  then,  when 
friendship  is  thus  violated,  think  no  more  of  your  former  friend, 
not  even  enough  to  hate  him.  Dwell  not  upon  the  injuries 
done  you,  but  banish  him  from  your  mind,  and  let  him  be  to 
you  as  though  you  had  never  known  him  ; for  dwelling  upon 
broken  friendships  only  still  farther  lacerates  and  blunts  this 
feeling,  and  more  effectually  sears  and  steels  it  against  all 
mankind.  Never  form  friendships  where  there  is  any  danger 
of  their  being  broken  ; and  never  break  them  unless  the  occa- 
sion is  most  aggravated : and  let  friends  try  to  make  up  little 
differences  as  soon  as  possible. 

227.  ITS  DUE  REGULATION  AND  RESTRAINT. 

This  faculty  is  capable,  when  abused,  of  working  evil  com- 
mensurate with  its  good.  We  are  liable  to  form  improper  as- 
sociations ; and  when  we  do,  we  should  break  them  off  as 
soon  as  convinced  of  their  injurious  tendency.  The  author 
once  saw  a young  man  who  was  rendered  perfectly  distracted 
by  a sudden  breach  of  friendship,  or  a supposed  friend  turning 
traitor.  A breach  between  him  and  his  spouse  could  not  have 
afflicted  him  more  severely.  In  such  cases  the  faculty  re- 
quires restraint.  So  also  when  friends  are  gaining  an  undue 
influence  over  us. 

To  effect  such  restraint  break  up  all  association,  all  connec- 
tion, all  interchange  of  all  ideas  and  feelings  with  them.  Ex- 
change no  letters,  reciprocate  no  looks,  no  thoughts.  Banish, 
as  far  as  possible,  all  ideas  of  the  person  loved.  Busy  your- 
self so  effectually  about  other  matters  as  to  compel  you  to 
withdraw  your  feelings  from  this  person,  anc  above  all,  foim 


144 


ADHESIVENESS. 


other  friendly  relations.  There  is  no  cure  for  lacerak  affec- 
tion equal  to  its  transfer.  Stop  its  flow  you  cannot,  s ould 
not ; you  can  only  direct  it  into  another  channel.  Find  Oiher 
and  better  objects  on  which  to  expend  it,  and,  especially,  array 
reason  and  conscience  against  friendship.  When  your  affec- 
tions revert  to  their  former  object,  bring  them  back  by  plac- 
ing the  motive  for  their  withdrawal  before  the  mind.  Intel- 
lect and  the  moral  affections  should  reign  supreme.  They 
can  govern  the  feelings — should  govern  them  all211.  And 
every  one  should  train  his  feelings  to  obey  their  normal 
dictates. 

These  remarks  will  apply  particularly  to  those  who  have 
fallen  in  love  injudiciously,  and  wish  to  tear  their  affections 
from  those  on  whom  they  have  been  improperly  or  unwisely 
placed.  To  such  they  will  be  found  invaluable;  as  also  to 
those  who  lose  friends,  children,  or  beloved  companions.  Let 
the  dead  be  dead.  To  mourn  over  their  decease  does  not 
benefit  them,  but  it  is  ruinous  to  your  health  and  mind,  as  well 
as  injurious  to  the  faculty  thus  lacerated.  And  the  more  you 
dwell  on  this  loss,  the  more  you  sear  this  element  of  your  na- 
ture. Beware  of  this  laceration,  and  avoid  it  by  banishing  its 
cause  from  your  mind,  and  diverting  your  attention  upon  other 
objects.  Be  the  philosopher  and  Christian  211 ; and  thus 
shelter  yourself  from  that  merciless  storm  which  threatens 
to  drive  you  to  destraction,  and  wreck  soul  and  body  on  the 
fatal  shoals  of  stranded  affection.  But  more  of  this  under 
Vitativeness. 


228.  CULTIVATION  IN  CHILDREN. 

The  young  form  attachments  much  more  readily  than 
adults,  because  this  social  element  has  not  yet  been  blasted 
and  calloused  by  oft-repeated  disappointments  consequent  on 
the  treachery  of  supposed  friends,  or  by  long  separation  from 
the  companions  of  youth. 

O I admire  this  innocent  cordiality  and  gushing  reciprocity 
of  youth.  They  do  not  eye  every  candidate  for  their  affec* 
tions  with  a suspicious  “ I’ll  watch  you,  my  man.”  They  dc 

not  consider  “every  one  a rogue  till  they  have  proved  him  to 


ASSOCIATES  FOIl  CHILDREN. 


145 


be  trusvy,”  but  confidingly  regard  all  as  true  friends  till  they 
prove  traitors.  Give  me  the  cordiality  of  youth  rather  than 
this  case-hardening  of  maturity,  and  especially  of  business 
scrutiny.  Rather  be  burnt  by  the  fire,  time  and  again,  than 
have  no  fire  by  which  to  warm  the  frigid  soul.  Let  my  chil- 
dren be  true  to  their  natures,  not  seared  by  the  contracted 
maxims  of  the  world.  Let  these  delightful  feelings  be  culti- 
vated in  them.  Especially  let  this  idea  of  caste326  not  be 
instilled  into  their  susceptible  minds.  Let  them  never  be  in- 
terdicted from  associating  with  other  children  on  the  score  of 
poverty.  And  let  children  be  furnished  with  playmates. 
The  full  development  of  their  moral  natures  requires  friends, 
as  much  as  that  of  their  bodies  requires  bread.  Why  not, 
since  both  are  primitive  instincts  ? 

229.  CHOOSING  ASSOCIATES  FOR  CHILDREN. SCHOOLS. 

Yet  the  utmost  pains  should  be  taken  by  parents  to  choose 
playmates  of  the  right  character.  Since  the  power  of 
friendship  over  character  is  thus  potent321,  let  it  be  for  good. 
No  words  can  express  the  injury  sustained  by  playing  with 
improper  associates.  Take  an  example  from  our  public 
schools.  If  one  scholar  swear,  all  become  familiar  with 
oaths  and  hardened  by  them.  If  one  be  vulgar,  the  whole 
school  learn  the  language  of  coarse  obscenity.  And  the 
propagation  of  vice  by  this  means  is  unaccountably  great. 
Parents,  be  warned ; for  you  can  hardly  find  a common  school 
throughout  the  land  to  which,  at  least,  one  bad,  vulgar  scholar 
does  not  go.  A hundred  times  have  I been  shocked  at  their 
bawdy  ribaldry ; and  to  see  naturally  innocent,  modest  girls 
play  on  equal  terms  with  such  boys,  become  corrupted  by 
their  manners,  and  familiar  with  their  conversation  and  con- 
duct, is  really  most  sickening  and  heart-rending.  Parents, 
do  consider  this  matter. 

“ But  what  can  we  do  ? Our  children  must  not  stay  from 
school  and  grow  up  ignoramuses,”  is  the  answer.  Better  this 
than  that  they  become  contaminated,  perhaps  corrupted,  by 
those  vices  too  prevalent  in  school — much  more  so  than  parents 
even  imagine  possible.  But  the  remedy  consists  in  that  home 
13 


146 


UNION  FOR  LIFE. 


education  and  maternal  instruction  urged  throughout  these 
volumes  as  an  unequivocal  ordinance  of  nature222. 


UNION  FQR  LIFE. 

“Th3  silken  tie  that  binds  two  willing  souls,”  and  makes  “of  them  twain  one  flesh.” 

230.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  ADAPTATION,  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Duality,  or  exclusiveness  and  perpetuity  of  conjugal 
love.  Its  organ  is  located  between  Adhesiveness  and  Amative- 
ness. A female  friend  of  the  author,  who  loves  her  husband 
most  devotedly,  experiences,  whenever  she  expects  him  to  be  ab- 
sent a few  days,  a severe  pain  in  this  organ.  That  is,  the  pain- 
ful action  of  this  faculty  causes  tenderness  and  pain  in  its  organ. 

Adaptation. — Duality  of  love  and  wedlock  is  clearly  an 
ordinance  of  nature.  This  point  is  established  in  the  author’s 
works  entitled  “ Matrimony,”  and  “ Love  and  Parentage,” 
and  the  whole  subject  of  love  and  marriage  fully  discussed,  so 
that  repetition  here  is  not  necessary.  Conjugal  affection  is 
the  distinctive  function  of  this  faculty.  Those  in  whom  it  is 
large,  active,  and  reciprocally  fastened  upon  each  other,  love 
to  be  always  together;  cannot  endure  to  be  separated  from 
each  other ; feel  that  the  time  spent  away  from  each  other  is 
so  much  of  their  existence  virtually  lost ; experience  that  per- 
fect blending  and  oneness  of  soul  which  constitutes  pure  love? 
and  the  spirit  and  essence  of  marriage ; desire  to  caress  and 
he  caressed ; are  completely  wrapped  up  in  each  other ; re- 
gard any  division  or  sharing  of  this  love  with  any  other  object 
as  perfectly  abhorrent  and  sacrilegious ; feel  perfectly  satis- 
fied with  and  devoted  to  each  other ; and  are  so  perfectly  one, 
so  wholly  wrapped  up  in  each  other,  as  cordially  to  surrender 
and  accept  the  rights  of  marriage.  It  is  stronger  in  females 
than  in  males,  which  coincides  with  the  far  greater  intensity 
and  durability  of  woman’s  love  than  of  man’s. 

This  faculty  suggests  many  most  interesting  and  valuable  . 
truths  to  lovers  and  the  married,  for  a full  presentation  of 
which  the  reader  is  referred  to  “ Matrimony,”  and  “Love 
and  Parentage.” 


FUNCTION  OF  INHABITIVENESS. 


141 


4.  INHABITIYENESS. 

“Home,  sweet,  sweet  home ; there’s  no  place  like  home.” 

231.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  EFFECTS  ON  CHARACTER 

Love  of  home,  and  the  domicil  of  childhood  and  after  life , 
attachment  to  the  place  where  one  lives  or  has  lived,  and  un 
willingness  to  change  it ; desire  to  locate  and  remain  perma- 
nently in  one  habitation,  and  to  own  and  improve  a homestead  ; 
patriotism.  Located  an  inch  above  Philoprogenitiveness219, 
or  beneath  the  junction  of  the  upper  lamdoidal  sutures  and 
the  two  lobes  of  Adhesiveness224. 

Large  Inhabitiveness  loves  the  old  family  homestead ; “that 
moss-covered  bucket  which  hung  by  the  well ;”  the  scenery, 
trees,  shrubbery,  forests,  playgrounds,  paths,  fences,  and  even 
stones  of  childhood  and  youth  ; and  often,  through  life,  thinks 
on  them  with  delightful  sadness,  and  loves  to  revisit  them  ; 
desires  always  to  sleep  in  the  same  bed,  occupy  the  same  seat 
at  table,  and  have  everything  remain  as  it  was,  or  else  to  im- 
prove it ; feels  lost  and  forsaken  when  away  from  home,  and 
especially  till  a room  or  temporary  “abiding  place”  is  selected ; 
and  strives  to  render  home  as  pleasant  and  happy  as  possible. 
It  also  loves  country  and  desires  to  serve  it.  When  very 
large,  and  thrown  into  an  abnormal  state  by  absence  from 
home,  it  produces  that  terrible  mental  disease  called  the 
home-sickness,  so  common  in  those  who  leave  home  for  the 
first  time,  and  said  to  be  so  prevalent  among  the  Swiss.  The 
inhabitants  of  hilly  districts  generally  love  their  “mountain 
homes”  better  than  those  of  level  countries. 

Small  Inhabitiveness  cares  little  for  home  or  its  associations, 
improvement,  or  pleasures ; and  is  as  well  contented  in  one 
place  as  in  another. 


232.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

The  advantages  of  having  a permanent  home,  and  the  evil* 
and  losses  consequent  on  changing  it,  are  each  very  great. 
Proverbs  say  truly,  “ Three  moves  are  as  bad  as  a fire,”  and 
“ A rolling  stone  gathers  no  moss.”  The  estimated  annua] 


148 


INHABIT!  VENESS. 


cost  of  moving  in  New  York  city  alone,  on  the  first  of  May,  is 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  besides  all  the  other  movings  of  the 
year,  the  wear,  tear,  and  breakage  of  furniture,  and  the  vexa- 
tions and  losses  necessarily  attendant  on  it.  Those  who  have 
homes  of  their  own,  be  they  ever  so  homely,  are  compara- 
tively rich.  They  feel  that  no  crusty  landlord  can  turn  them 
homeless  into  the  streets,  or  sell  their  furniture  at  auction  for 
rent.  Quarter-days  come  and  go  unheeded,  and  the  domestic 
affections  have  full  scope  for  delightful  exercise.  Every  mar* 
ried  man  is  bound  by  this  inhabitive  law  of  his  nature,  as  well 
is  in  duty  to  his  family,  to  own  a house  and  garden  spot; 
^nd  every  wife  is  bound,  by  the  same  law  and  duty,  to  render 
shat  home  as  happy  as  possible.  A home  of  our  own  is  also 
indispensable  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  other  domestic 
affections  and  the  comfort  of  the  family.  The  prevalent  prac- 
tic  of  renting  houses  violates  this  law  and  arrangement  of 
man’s  domestic  nature,  and  must  necessarily  produce  evil  to 
both  owner  and  tenant. 

Inhabitiveness  can  be  cultivated  by  having  a home,  and 
staying  much  at  home  ; by  improving  that  home  in  setting 
out  fruit-trees  and  shrubbery,  multiplying  conveniences  about 
it,  and  indulging  a love  of  home  as  our  home.  Moving 
often,  by  tearing  us  away  from  the  place  which  has  become 
endeared  to  us,  interrupts  and  pains  this  faculty,  and  thus 
hardens,  sears,  and  enfeebles  it.  Children  should,  if  possible, 
be  brought  up  in  one  house,  and  their  home  should  be  ren- 
derered  delightful.  Children  who  have  lived  in  one  dwelling, 
and  especially  on  a farm,  till  fifteen  years  of  age,  generally 
have  this  organ  large ; whereas  it  is  small  in  those  who  have 
lived  in  different  places  during  childhood.  This  shows  the 
importance  of  cultivating  it  in  children,  and  says  to  parents, 
in  the  language  of  nature,  “ Make  as  few  moves  as  possible, 
and  generally  keep  your  children  at  home.” 


FUNCTION  OF  CONTINUITY. 


149 


5.  CONTINUITY  : OR,  CONCENTRATIYENESS. 

233.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION  LARGE  AND  SMALL. 

Unity  and  continuity  of  thought  and  feeling ; applica- 
tion ; ability  and  disposition  to  attend  to  one,  and  only  one, 
thing  at  a time,  and  to  complete  that  before  turning  to 
another ; fixedness  of  attention  ; a plodding,  poring  dispo- 
sition ; prolixity.  Located  above  Adhesiveness  and  Inhabit- 
iveness,  and  forming  a semicircular  arch — like  a new  moon, 
horns  downward — over  them. 

Large  Continuity  engrosses  the  whole  attention  upon  the 
one  thing  in  hand  till  it  is  finished,  and  is  confused  if  inter- 
rupted or  diverted  ; cannot  readily  change  from  one  business 
or  subject  to  another,  but  loves  to  pursue  the  same  regular 
and  fixed  train  of  operations ; has  the  power  of  connected 
application  to  one  and  the  same  thing ; is  often  prolix  and 
tedious ; takes  some  time,  in  speaking,  to  get  to  the  point,  and 
then  dwells  a good  while  upon  it ; and  cannot  endure  to  dash 
off  anything,  but  desires  to  be  thorough  and  complete  in  all 
mental  and  manual  operations.  This  faculty  does  not  con- 
centrate the  mental  operations,  but  simply  keeps  them  from 
wandering — does  not  secure  intensity  in  the  mental  opera- 
tions, but  rather  expands  and  dilates  them,  and  though  it 
keeps  the  mind  upon  a given  thing  a long  time,  yet  it  prevents 
doing  much  in  a short  time. 

Small  Continuity  allows  us  to  go  rapidly,  like  the  hum- 
ming-bird, from  thing  to  thing,  and  from  one  kind  of  business 
to  another;  to  learn  and  do  a little  of  almost  everything,  yet 
not  much  of  any  one  thing ; to  turn  our  hands,  Yankee-like, 
to  a variety  of  pursuits  with  success ; gives  a “ now  or 
never”  cast  of  mind,  together  with  versatility  of  talents ; 
allows  rapid  transitions  from  one  class  of  feelings  to  another, 
together  with  strong  currents  and  counter-currents  of  emotion  ; 
with  an  active  temperament,  thinks  and  feels  intensely  on 
subjects,  but  not  long  on  any  one  thing  at  a time ; perceives 
and  learns  quickly,  and  does  admirably  what  can  be  done  on 
the  spur  of  the  moment,  yet  dislikes  to  con  over  things; 


150 


CONTINUITY. 


may  be  brilliant,  yet  is  not  thorough ; and  does  off-hand,  or 
not  at  all. 

234.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Many  of  the  operations  of  life,  some  kinds  of  business,  and 
especially  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  require  the  continued, 
united,  and  patient  application  of  the  faculties  o one  thing  at 
a time.  Firmness  gives  perseverance  in  our  general  plans, 
opinions,  etc.,  while  this  organ  is  adapted  to  the  minor  opera- 
tions of  the  mind  for  the  time  being.  Without  this  faculty  the 
mental  operations  would  be  extremely  imperfect,  deficient  in 
thoroughness,  and  too  vapid  and  flashy.  Yet  its  absence  may 
be  advisable  in  some  kinds  of  business,  as  in  the  mercantile, 
where  so  many  little  things  are  to  be  done,  so  many  customers 
waited  upon  in  a short  time,  and  so  much  versatility  of  talent 
is  required. 

The  whole  cast  and  tenor  of  the  American  character  evinces 
an  almost  total  deficiency  of  this  faculty,  and  accordingly,  in 
ninety-nine  in  every  hundred  of  American  heads  this  organ  is 
small.  This  error  is  enhanced  by  our  defective  system  of 
education — especially  by  crowding  so  many  studies  upon  the 
attention  of  children  and  youth  in  a day.  In  our  common 
schools,  a few  minutes  are  devoted  to  reading,  a few  minutes 
to  spelling,  a few  more  to  writing,  a few  more  to  arithmetic, 
etc.,  etc.,  all  in  half  a day.  By  the  time  this  faculty  has 
brought  the  faculties  required  by  a given  study  to  bear  upon 
it,  so  that  it  begins  to  do  them  good,  the  mind  is  taken  off,  and 
the  attention  directed  to  another  study.  Hence  Americans 
are  proverbially  superficial.  They  are  content  with  obtain- 
ing a smattering,  running  knowledge  of  many  things,  yet 
rarely  go  below  the  surface.  A bird’s-eye  glance  satisfies 
them.  This  is  wrong.  When  the  mind  becomes  engaged  in 
a particular  study  or  train  of  thought,  it  should  be  allowed  to 
remain  fixed  without  interruption  until  fatigued.  And  I am 
of  the  opinion  that  not  more  than  one,  at  best  only  two  studies 
or  subjects  should  be  thrust  upon  the  mind  in  a day  ; and  that 
a single  study  at  a time  should  be  made  the  study,  and  the 
others  recreations  merely.  Make  thorough  work  of  one  study, 
and  then  of  another. 


EDUCATIONAL  ERROR. 


151 


To  diminish  this  faculty,  fly  from  thing  to  thing.  Read  a 
paragraph  here,  and  a scrap  of  news  there.  Get  a mere  smat- 
tering of  one  thing  after  another,  but  dwell  on  nothing.  Pick 
up  information  here,  there,  everywhere,  but  let  it  be  a little 
of  everything,  yet  not  much  of  any  one  thing.  Go  into  a 
store  or  engage  in  some  thing  where  there  is  a great  variety 
of  things  to  be  attended  to  in  quick  succession,  each  of  which 
requires  but  an  instant,  to  be  followed  by  another.  Poke  iron 
after  iron  into  the  fire  so  as  to  compel  yourself  to  divert  your 
attention  from  one  thing  to  another  without  cessation. 

But  to  cultivate  this  faculty  pursue  the  opposite  course.  Fix 
the  mind,  and  keep  it  fixed,  on  one  single  subject  for  a long 
time,  and  avoid  interruption  and  transition.  The  weavers  in 
our  factories  usually  have  it  large,  because  their  whole  atten- 
tion is  required  to  one  and  the  same  thing,  hour  after  hour 
and  day  after  day  213,  and  if  you  wish  to  cultivate  it  you  must 
seek  some  business,  or  do  something  which  will  compel  you 
to  keep  your  mind  upon  one  and  the  same  thing  hour  after 
hour  and  day  after  day  for  years.  Force  of  will  may  do  some- 
thing, but  this  will  do  vastly  more.  In  short,  exercise  the 
faculty214.  These  remarks  also  show  how  to  cultivate  it  in 
children.  Scholars,  taught  by  teachers  who  have  Continuity 
large,  are  apt  to  have  it  large  also.  A Mr.  Morris,  who  stands 
deservidly  high  as  a teacher,  in  New  York,  has  this  organ 
very  large,  and  two-thirds  of  his  scholars  have  it  above  mode- 
rate ; whereas,  in  ordinary  scholars,  the  tables  are  reversed. 
On  expressing  surprise  at  this,  and  asking  for  an  explanation, 
the  answer  satisfied  me  that  his  having  called  it  into  continual 
exercise  in  his  scholars  was  the  cause  of  its  unusual  develop- 
ment. 


A.  VITATIVENESS. 

235.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  ADAPTATION. 

Desire  to  exist,  love  and  tenacity  of  life,  and  dread  of 
death.  Located  very  near  the  opening  of  the  ears,  or  partly 
between  and  behind  them,  and  between  Combativeness  and 


152 


VITAT  .VENESS. 


Destructivess.  As  no  engraving  can  well  illustrate  ts  posi- 
tion, none  is  given. 

Adaptation. — Life  is  sweet.  By  a law  of  things,  all  that 
lives  clings  to  existence  with  a tenacity  far  greater  than  to  all 
else  besides.  Happiness  being  the  one  end  of  universal  na- 
ture, and  existence  the  cord  on  which  all  enjoyments  are 
strung,  its  breach  is  their  destruction  ; to  prevent  which  nature 
has  wisely  and  most  effectually  guarded  life  by  implanting  in 
all  that  lives  a love  of  it  far  surpassing  all  other  loves  com- 
bined. What  will  not  this  love  prompt  us  to  dare  and  do  for 
its  preservation.  Nor  do  any  of  the  “ wonderful  works55  of 
nature  surpass  in  beauty  or  efficacy  this  desire  for  prolonging 
life  and  its  joys. 

Death  is  also  constitutionally  dreadful.  That  same  ration- 
ale which  renders  life  thus  sweet,  that  it  may  be  preserved, 
has  also  rendered  death  proportionally  abhorent,  that  it  may 
be  avoided.  How  terrified,  how  frantic,  the  docile  ox  is  ren- 
dered by  the  sight  of  blood  or  apprehension  of  slaughter.  The 
sluggish  swine,  in  view  of  death,  how  resolute,  how  fierce ! 
The  hunted  stag,  when  fleeing  for  his  life,  what  swiftness, 
what  mighty  leaps,  what  desperate  exertions — nor  surrenders 
till  all  the  resources  of  his  nature  are  completely  exhausted. 
Corner  that  placid,  fireside  puss,  and  attempt  to  kill  before 
you  bind  or  stun — what  yells,  how  desperate,  how  terribly 
fierce,  and  what  tremendous  exertions  !* 

Man,  and  even  timid  woman,  threatened  with  death,  yet 
retaining  power  to  fight  for  life — what  well-directed,  mighty, 
and  protracted  exertions  of  body  and  mind,  what  superhuman 
sagacity,  what  terrible  ferocity  ! What  but  impossibilities  are 
not  surmounted  ! What  terrific  looks!  What  agony  of  de- 
spair ! Who  can  stand  before  his  wrath  ! What  fiend  more 
malignant ! All  produced  by  that  fear  of  death  which  is  only 
the  love  of  life,  and  both  the  means  of  its  preservation.  How 
great  the  end  ! How  appropriate  and  efficacious  the  means ! 
But  for  some  such  ever  vigilant  sentinel  of  life,  it  would  be 
destroyed,  daily  and  hourly,  if  we  had  so  many  lives  to  live. 


Does  not  this  law  interdict  the  slaughter  of  animals  for  food  ? 


ITS  FUNCTION* 


153 


Some  such  mental  faculty  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  the 
preservation  of  life. 

This  faculty  also  contributes  essentially  to  the  preservation 
of  life  by  creating  a resistance  to  disease.  Thus  two  persons, 

A.  and  B.,  exactly  alike  in  constitutions,  kind  of  sickness,  and 
all  other  respects,  except  that  A.  has  Vitativeness  large,  and 

B.  small,  are  brought  near  the  grave.  A.  loves  life  so  dearly, 
and  clings  to  it  with  such  tenacity  as  to  struggle  with  might 
and  main  against  the  disease,  and  he  lives  through  it ; while 
B.,  scarcely  caring  whether  he  lives  or  dies,  does  not  stem  the 
downward  current,  does  not  brace  himself  up  against  it,  but 
yields  to  its  sway,  is  borne  downward,  and  swallowed  up  in 
death.  An  illustrative  anecdote. 

A rich  maiden,  who  had  already  lived  twenty  years  longer 
than  her  impatient  heirs  desired,  finally  fell  sick,  and  was 
evidently  breathing  her  last.  But,  overhearing  one  of  her  by- 
standing heirs  congratulate  another  that  she  was  now  dying, 
so  that  they  would  enjoy  her  fortune,  and  feeling  indignant,  re- 
plied, “I  won’t  die;  I’ll  live  to  spite  you;”  meanwhile 
putting  forth  a powerful  mental  struggle  for  life.  She  re- 
covered and  lived  many  years,  evidently  in  consequence  of 
the  powerful  determination  to  live  thus  called  forth.  The 
rabbit  surrenders  life  in  consequence  of  a slight  blow,  which 
the  rat,  tenacious  of  life,  scarcely  minds.  In  the  latter,  Vi- 
tativeness is  large — in  the  former,  small.  It  is  very  large  in 
king-fishers,  and  all  who  have  shot  them  know  how  hard, 
though  wounded,  they  are  to  kill.  Other  things  being  equal, 
the  larger  this  organ  the  more  energetically  we  resist  disease, 
and  the  longer  we  live.  Hence  physicians  wisely  attempt  to 
keep  the  expectation  of  life  in  their  patients,  because  they 
know  how  effectually  hope  of  life  promotes  recovery. 

236.  ITS  CULTIVATION. DREAD  OF  DEATH. 

This  faculty  should,  then,  by  all  means,  be  cultivated.  So 
important  a means  of  warding  off  the  fatal  termination  of  dis- 
ease should  be  cherished  by  all ; so  that,  to  cling  to  life  with 
a tenacity  however  great,  is  not  a sin  but  a virtue.  Indeed, 
the  more  we  love  it  the  more  we  fulfil  a paramount  duty  to 


154 


VITATIVENESS. 


ourselves  and  our  God.  This  faculty,  like  every  other,  was 
given  us  to  be  exercised.  Is  not  the  preservation  of  life  one 
of  our  first  and  highest  duties,  and  its  wanton  destruction,  as 
in  suicide,  murder,  and  even  the  injury  of  health,  most  wicked  ? 
We  should  cling  to  life  with  the  grasp  of  desperation,  not  hold 
it  loosely  or  surrender  it  willingly.  We  should  daily  and 
habitually  cherish  a desire  to  live,  not  encourage  a willing- 
ness, much  less  a desire  to  die — for  such  feelings  do  more  to 
to  induce  the  death  desired  than  can  well  be  imagined,  and 
are  therefore  directly  suicidal,  and  hence  most  criminal. 

“ But  shall  we  not  hold  ourselves  in  readiness  to  ‘ depart 
hence/  and  be  with  God  whenever  he  calls  us  ? Is  not  this 
a paramount  Christian  duty  ?”  God  will  never  “ call”  you 
till  you  have  so  far  outraged  the  laws  of  health  as  to  prevent 
your  enjoying  life,  or  else  till  your  worn-out  bodily  powers 
sink  gradually  down,  under  the  weight  of  years,  into  the  rest 
of  the  grave.  Those  who  die  in  adolescence  and  the  prime  of 
life,  call  themselves,  or  are  called  by  their  fellow-men,  into 
premature  graves,  and  called  by  violated  physical  law,  not  by 
God.  This  is  a suicidal,  not  a divine  call,  and  involves  great 
moral  turpitude,  not  a Christian  virtue.  True,  after  life  has 
been  spent  by  disease  or  old  age,  such  resignation  to  death  is 
well ; yet  for  those  in  health  to  cherish  a desire  or  even  wil- 
lingness to  die,  is  most  wicked,  because  it  actually  hastens 
death— and  is  virtual  suicide.  Premature  death,  or  rather 
those  diseases  which  cause  it,  are  dreadfully  painful.  Their 
agonies  are  the  climax  of  all  agony,  in  order  to  compel  us  to 
avoid  them,  and  so  prolong  life.  Is  it  then  a Christian  virtue 
to  “ rush  upon  the  thick  bosses”  of  death’s  grim  buckler  ? Is 
to  seek  what  a primary  instinct  of  our  nature,  for  the  wisest 
of  purposes,  so  abhors,  a merit  ? Does  desiring  to  die,  which 
is  virtual  suicide,  fit  us  for  heaven  ? 

Yet  in  one  sense  death  is  desirable  in  itself  and  blessed  in 
its  effects.  Those  pains  already  described,  as  rendering  death 
so  dreadful,  appertain,  strictly  speaking,  not  to  death  itself, 
but  to  its  cause — to  those  violations  of  the  physical  laws  which 
induce  it.  After  life  has  been  spent  by  age,  or  become  so  far 
impaired  by  disease  as  to  preclude  farther  enjoyment,  nature 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


155 


kindly  sends  dea.th  to  deliver  us  from  the  consequences  of 
broken  law.  Death  itself,  especially  a natural  death,  so  far 
from  being  painful,  is  a most  benevolent  institution.  Living 
as  we  do  under  the  action  of  physical  and  mental  laws,  every 
infraction  of  which  occasions  pain,  without  death  to  deliver  us 
fiom  the  painful  consequences  of  laws  ignorantly  or  carelessly 
broken,  we  should  in  the  course  of  a few  centuries  accumu- 
late upon  ourselves  a number  and  aggravation  of  sufferings 
absolutely  insupportable,  from  which  this  institution  of  death 
now  kindly  delivers  us.  Nor  can  we  resist  the  conclusion 
that  the  very  act  of  dying  is  pleasurable,  not  painful.  Is 
every  element  of  man,  every  arrangement  of  external  and  in- 
ternal nature,  promotive  of  enjoyment,  and  is  death  the  only 
exception  ? The  pains  and  horrors  of  death  appertain  only  to 
a violent  death,  never  to  that  which  transpires  in  accordance 
with  the  institutes  of  nature,  and  then  not  to  the  act  of  dying, 
but  to  that  violation  of  the  physical  laws  which  occasions 
death.  Violent  death — rather  those  pains  which  cause  it — 
alone  is  dreadful,  and  unexhausted  life  alone  desirable — the 
former  horrible,  and  the  latter  sweet,  only  because  of,  and  in 
proportion  to,  the  fund  of  life  remaining.  Let  the  vital  powers 
become  gradually  and  completely  exhausted,  in  harmony  with 
that  principle  of  gradual  decay  which  constitutes  nature’s  ter- 
minus of  life,  and  death  has  lost  its  horrors — is  even  a most 
welcome  visitor,  in  and  of  itself,  to  say  nothing  of  those  joys 
into  which  it  is  the  constitutional  usher.  Hence,  infantile  life 
being  always  feeble,  juvenile  death  is  far  less  painful  than 
adult,  and  those  of  weak  constitutions  than  those  in  robust 
health.  As  the  vital  powers  augment,  they  proportionally  en- 
hance the  pleasures  and  consequent  love  of  life,  and  dread  of 
death,  yet  the  same  inflexible  law  of  things  which  causes  life, 
after  it  has  attained  its  maximum,  to  wane  and  decline  with 
age,  also  proportionally  diminishes  both  the  desirableness  of  life 
and  the  pains  and  fear  of  death,  till,  like  the  close  of  day,  the 
sun  of  life  sets,  the  tranquil  twilight  which  introduces  night 
supervenes,  and  life  goes  out  gradually,  and  almost  uncon. 
sciously,  just  as  twilight  fades  imperceptibly  into  night.  This 
gradual  decay  and  final  termination  of  life  cannot  be  painful. 


156 


YITATIVENESS. 


So  far  therefrom,  its  accompanying  repose,  like  the  grateful 
rest  of  evening  after  diurnal  toil  is  ended,  is  far  more  pleasur- 
able than  all  the  joys  of  life  combined.  That  very  repose,  so 
agreeable  to  the  old  man,  is  the  usher  of  death — is  death  itself, 
and  as  this  repose  is  sweet,  so  that  death,  of  which  it  is  a con- 
stituent part,  is  still  more  so.  Death  is  to  life  exactly  what 
retiring  to  sleep  is  to  the  day.  The  analogy  between  them  is 
perfect,  only  that  the  repose  of  the  grave  is  as  much  more 
agreeable  than  evening  rest  as  the  day  and  the  twilight  of  life 
are  longer  and  more  eventful  than  of  the  natural  day.  Nor 
does  death  supervene  till  this  grateful  decline  has  consumed 
every  remaining  power  to  enjoy  in  life,  and  suffer  in  death,  so 
that  to  die  a natural  death  is  simply  to  fall  asleep  “ without  a 
struggle  or  a groan.” 

Then  why  contemplate  death  with  horror  ? As  we  do  not 
dread  sunset,  and  as  twilight  is  the  most  delightful  portion  of 
the  day,  besides  inviting  that  rest  which  is  still  more  agree- 
able, shall  we  not  look  forward  to  the  close  of  life  with  pleas- 
ure, not  with  pain  ? We  should  even  thank  God  for  its 
institution. 

Yet  mark  : while  we  should  not  dread  death  itself,  we  should 
look  with  perfect  horror  upon  all  those  violations  of  the  laws 
of  health  which  hasten  it.  Obey  these  laws  and  you  com- 
pletely disarm  death  of  all  its  horrors,  and  even  clothe  it  in 
garments  of  loveliness.  And  this  is  the  fatal  error  of  mankind. 
They  regard  death  with  perfect  abhorrence,  yet  disregard 
and  perpetrate  its  cause — those  violations  of  law  which  hasten 
it.  The  object  of  this  horror  should  be  reversed.  We  should 
love  death  itself,  but  words  are  powerless  to  portray  the  repug- 
nance with  which  we  should  contemplate  every  abuse  of  health, 
everything  which  tends  to  hasten  death.  Ye  who  dread  this 
king  of  terrors,  obey  the  physical  laws,  and  you  disarm  him 
of  every  terror,  and  render  your  worst  enemy  your  best  friend. 
In  short,  let  us  all  love  life  with  our  whole  souls,  and  cherish 
it  as  our  greatest  treasure — as  the  casket  of  all  our  treasures. 
Let  us  neither  do,  nor  for  a moment  tolerate,  the  least  thing 
directly  or  indirectly  calculated  to  impair  health,  and  thus 
shorten  and  enfeeble  life,  but  do  all  in  our  power  to  promote 


INTERMENTS  AND  MOURNERS. 


157 


both.  Let  us  shiink  back  horror-stricken,  as  from  the  poison- 
ous viper,  from  every  species  of  animal  excess  and  indulgence 
in  the  least  injurious,  and  love  God  as  we  love  life — his  most 
precious  gift. 

This  scaring  people  by  telling  them  that  they  may  die  soon, 
is  therefore  both  foolish  and  wrong.  They  will  die  soon  if  they 
kill  themselves  or  are  killed,  not  otherwise.  God  will  never 
take  their  life  except  by  old  age.  Telling  them  so  will  render 
them  careful  not  to  commit  suicide  by  breaking  the  physical 
laws,  whereas  telling  them  that  God  may  single  them  out  and 
pierce  them  with  the  arrows  of  death,  is  virtually  telling  them 
that  God  may  violate  his  own  laws  24  26  27.  And  this  making 
death  a great  scarecrow  hastens  it l25,  and  also  implants  a feel- 
ing of  horror  which  haunts  many  a poor  victim  through  life. 
Teach  men  to  shudder  at  and  avoid  the  causes  of  premature 
death,  not  death  itself. 


237.  THE  DEAD  AND  THEIR  INTERMENT!  MOURNERS. 

That  repulsion  with  which  most  people  look  upon  the  dead, 
is  weak  and  painful.  The  ravages  and  pains  of  disease  gen- 
erally stamp  a most  repulsive  and  ghastly  impress  upon  the 
corpse,  and  this  is  the  probable  origin  of  the  dread  occasioned 
by  the  sight  of  them  ; yet,  as  just  seen,  this  is  the  consequence 
of  their  disease,  not  of  death  itself.  The  dead  will  not  hurt 
us  ; then  why  fear  them  ? Besides,  their  bodies  are  not  them. 
Their  spirits  are  themselves 19,  and  these  are  gone.  Their  flesh 
and  material  form  are  only  the  organs  or  tools  by  which  they 
manifested  their  minds  while  alive— are  the  outer  garments 
they  wore,  and  should  not  therefore  be  an  object  of  dread. 

A single  consolatory  remark  to  those  who  shudder  at  the 
idea  of  being  devoured  by  worms.  This  is  palliated,  if  not 
obviated,  by  the  fact  that  as  our  bodies  are  wholly  insensible 
as  well  as  useless,  it  will  not  matter  in  the  least  to  us  whether 
all  alive  with  worms,  or  eaten  up  by  beast,  or  what  becomes 
of  them ; and  secondly,  nature  is  a perfect  economist.  She 
allows  nothing  to  go  to  waste.  The  dead  tree  decays,  en- 
riches the  land,  and  thus  does  good.  All  vegetable,  all  animal 
offal  is  converted,  by  this  all-pervading  law  of  decay,  into 
14 


158 


VITATIVENESS. 


manure  to  re-enrich  the  earth,  and  re-enter  into  the  formation 
of  life240.  Shall,  then,  the  human  body  be  exempt  from  this 
law  ? After  our  bodies  have  become  wholly  useless  to  us, 
why  not  be  even  glad  that  they  can  be  converted  into  food  for 
other  forms  of  life?  Why  not  gladly  let  nature  “save  the 
fragments,  that  nothing  be  lost  ?”  Nature  compels  their  dis- 
solution, and  thus  their  burial.  Then  let  other  orders  of 
beings  enjoy  what  we  cannot.  Let  this  great  doctrine  of 
economy  be  fulfilled  in  us  after  death,  as  it  is  in  all  else  that 
lives. 

And  the  modern  suggestion  of  cemeteries — of  rendering 
burying-places  agreeable — is  unequivocally  excellent.  Let 
it  be  encouraged  and  universally  adopted. 

Nor  should  we  grieve  inconsolably  over  the  loss  of  dear 
friends  and  children.  Does  our  grief  benefit  them  ? — or  ben- 
efit ourselves,  even  ? That  their  death  is  heart-rending,  is  ad- 
mitted ; yet,  after  they  are  once  dead,  what  remains  to  us  but 
to  derive  all  the  good  we  can  therefrom,  and  suffer  as  little 
evil  ? Pining  over  their  loss  is  more  directly  calculated  than 
almost  anything  else  permanently  to  disorder  the  nervous  sys- 
tem, and  break  down  the  health.  Nor  is  it  suspected  how  many 
hasten  their  own  death  by  grieving  over  that  of  their  friends. 
This,  as  already  seen,  is  wrong — is  partial  suicide  236,  and 
should  never  be  allowed.  Shall  we  kill  ourselves  because 
they  are  dead  ? Shall  we  inflict  upon  our  friends,  by  hasten- 
ing our  own  death,  the  same  evils  their  death  has  inflicted  on 
us  ? Shall  we  continually  irritate  the  wound,  and  thus  keep 
it  fresh  ? Rather  heal  it  up,  and  learn  therefrom  these  two 
great  practical  lessons  it  teaches — first,  to  hold  our  own  lives 
and  healths  as  most  sacred,  and  spare  no  pains  to  prevent  their 
injury  and  enhance  their  power  ; and,  secondly,  to  cultivate 
those  higher  and  holier  emotions  which  shall  fit  us  also  to  die. 
Such  a lesson  should  by  no  means  be  allowed  to  pass  unheed- 
ed, yet  it  should  inspire  within  us  longings  after  a higher  and 
holier  state  of  moral  excellence,  as  well  as  loosen  our  grasp 
on  earth  as  such,  not  break  down  our  health  and  weaken  our 
minds. 

Yet  when  death  transpires  in  harmony  with  the  ordinances 


FUNCTION  OF  COMBATIVENESS. 


159 


s>f  nature,  that  is,  after  the  vital  powers  are  fully  spent,  we 
shall  not  feel  like  grieving  even  for  a lost  parent  or  companion. 
Then  let  us  all  religiously  preserve  our  health  till  we  die  a 
natural  death,  so  as  thus  to  escape  all  the  agonies  of  prema- 
ture death,  and  not  torment  and  injure  our  friends  with  grief 
for  our  loss.  To  repeat,  be  entreated,  dear  reader,  to  pre- 
serve health  by  rendering  strict  oeedience  to  its  laws. 


6.  COMBATIVENESS. 

238.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION  ; LARGE  AND  SMALL. 

Energy  ; resistance  ; self-protection  ; defence  in  gen- 
eral ; personal  courage  ; presence  of  mind  ; opposition  ; de- 
termination ; boldness  ; resolution  ; get-out-of-my-way  ; 
let-me-and-mine-alone  ; resentment  ; anger  ; a threaten- 
ing, CONTRARY  Spirit. 

Located  an  inch  and  a half  behind  the  tops  of  the  ears,  on 
the  line  drawn  to  find  Parentiveness219. 

Large  Combativeness  imparts  resolution,  determination, 
fearlessness,  and  a disposition  to  grapple  in  with  obstacles, 
and  drive  through  whatever  opposes  our  progress.  Small 
Combativeness  renders  its  possessor  so  amiable  and  good  as  to 
be  good  for  nothing.  The  idea  that  this  faculty  renders  tho. 
who  have  it  large  ill-natured,  surly,  contentious,  contrary, 
fault-finding,  pugnacious,  rowdyish,  and  inclined  to  “ knock 
down  and  drag  out,”  is  incorrect.  That  it  often  does  all  this, 
and  much  more  to  the  same  effect,  is  readily  admitted ; yet 
these  are  its  perversions,  not  its  legitimate  functions.  Its 
precise  nature  and  office  are  disclosed  by  its 

239  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION- 

If  man  had  been  placed  in  a state  of  being  in  which  noi 
only  everything  he  requires  had  been  furnished,  paradise-like, 
at  his  hands,  but  also  which  required  no  tilling,  and  no  effort 
whatever  in  either  the  physical  or  moral  world,  this  faculty 
would  not  have  been  needed,  because  it  would  have  had 
nothing  to  do.  But,  so  far  therefrom,  he  is  placed  in  a state 


160 


COMBATIVENESS. 


of  being  which  requires  a perpetual  struggling  against  the 
.winds  of  opposition  and  the  tides  of  difficulty.  We  were 
placed  here  to  “ till  the  earth  and  to  keep  it ;”  and  in  what 
does  this  consist  but  in  removing  a constant  succession  of  op- 
posing obstacles,  and  a constant  coping  with  physical  obstruc- 
tions ? Even  at  manual  labor,  those  without  Combativeness 
would  not  earn  their  salt,  because  they  take  hold  of  every- 
thing, if  they  take  hold  at  all,  with  an  “01  can’t  if  I try !” 
which  prevents  even  their  trying,  and  renders  them  inefficient 
and  helpless.  But  large  Combativeness  creates  an  “ I-can- 
and-I-will,”  which  lays  hold  of  everything  with  a courage 
and -determination  which  will  not  submit  to  be  foiled — which 
jerks  everything  undertaken  right  straight  along  in  double 
quick  time,  just  as  the  steam-car  does  the  train.  Thus,  if 
only  a log  is  to  be  lifted  or  a stone  removed,  large  Combative- 
ness catches  hold  of  it  and  hurls  it  out  of  the  way,  with  a 
“that’s  nothing,”  “I  can  do  more  than  that;”  while  small 
Combativeness  waits,  and  looks,  and  considers  whether  it  can 
be  done,  and  finally  gives  it  up  as  impossible.  This  organ  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  hands,  whence  those  in  whom 
it  is  large,  when  they  do  strike,  strike  much  harder  than  they 
suppose,  because  of  that  vim  and  might  which  this  faculty 
imparts  to  the  blow. 

In  the  moral  world,  too,  obstacles  are  to  be  overcome. 
Men  are  not  angels.  To  accomplish  or  enjoy,  we  must  push 
our  projects  straight  through  an  almost  unbroken  series  of 
obstacles,  and  urge  our  way  along  through  life.  The  tame 
and  passive  can  never  do,  become,  or  enjoy,  anything,  but  will 
be  a burden  to  themselves  and  those  on  whom  they  depend. 
Those  who  want  anything  in  this  life  must  help  themselves 
to  it,  or  go  without  it ; and  those  who  require  protection  must 
protect  their  own  interests.  Other  people  have  their  hands 
full  of  their  own  affairs.  Thus,  a pusillanimous  boy  is  im- 
posed upon.  He  cows  down  and  snivels  out,  “ I’ll  tell  ma  !” 
yet  before  “ ma”  can  take  his  part,  the  aggressor  is  off.  But 
this  organ  gives  that  determined  energy  which  says  in  act, 
and  which  all  understand  perfectly,  “ Take  care  how  you 
invade  my  rights;”  “know  that  I’m  no  chicken.” 


ITS  FUNCTION  AND  CULTIVATION. 


161 


Its  influence  on  the  voice  in  conversation  and  public  speak- 
ing is  in  keeping  with,  and  illustrates,  this  its  general  force- 
imparting  influence  on  the  character.  Large  Combativenesa 
is  to  words  and  their  enunciation  what  a full  charge  of  powde* 
is  to  a ball,  namely,  it  hits  each  word  a propelling  thump  as 
it  comes  out,  and  expels  it  with  such  force  as  to  strike  the 
auditors,  as  it  were,  with  unction  and  emphasis,  so  as  to  com- 
mand attention,  and  make  and  leave  a distinct  impression ; 
whereas  small  Combativeness  lets  the  words  drawl  slowly  and 
fall  tamely  at  the  speaker’s,  or  rather  whiner’s,  feet.  Its  in 
fluence  on  the  style  of  writers  is  similar,  and  it  causes  both 
writer  and  speaker  to  use  words  of  a harsher  and  more  posi- 
tive import.  Much  of  that  positiveness  of  manner  and  bold- 
ness of  expression  usually  attributed  to  self-esteem  is  caused 
by  this  faculty. 

Its  influence  in  urging  forward  the  truth,  driving  reforms, 
and  exterminating  existing  evils,  may  be  inferred  from  its 
other  influences  on  character  as  just  explained.  No  man  can 
be  a reformer  without  it.  Those  in  whom  it  is  deficient  are 
as  tame  and  powerless  in  the  intellectual  and  moral  world  as 
in  the  physical.  In  short,  when  large,  it  infuses  into  all  its 
possessor  says,  does,  and  is,  a spirit  of  boldness,  daring,  reso- 
luteness, courage,  vigor,  tone,  efficiency,  defence,  unflinching 
determination,  defiance,  and  let-me-and-mine-alone,  as  well 
as  get-out-of-my-way,  which  wards  off  all  imposition,  breaks 
through  all  opposition,  and  overcomes  all  obstacles, 

A faculty  thus  indispensable  to  success  should  by  all  means 
be  cultivated  ; for  what  can  you  accomplish  or  become  with 
out  it  ? And  to  develop  it,  exercise  it.  Never  indulge  an 
“ I can’t.”  Never  allow  yourself  to  be  beaten,  provided  you 
are  right — a point  which  you  should  determine  upon  before 
you  begin.  Do  not  be  so  faint-hearted  as  not  to  try,  but  make 
a bold — though  always  judicious  250 — push,  and  then  follow  up 
so  energetically  as  to  carry  all  before  you.  None  of  this 
tame  pusillanimity  which  palsies  effort,  but  be  resolute.  Dc 
not  stop  to  enumerate  all  the  little  obstacles  in  your  path,  but 
carry  them  by  storm.  And  speak  out  as  fearlessly  and  em- 
phatically as  though  you  meant  all  you  said,  and  intended  to 
14* 


162 


COMBATIVENESS. 


make  others  feel  it.  Not  with  impudence,  but  with  force. 
And  carry  this  state  of  mind  throughout  all  you  say,  do,  and 
are 

Especially  to  cultivate  this  faculty,  strengthen  the  body,  and 
tone  up  the  general  health,  directions  for  which  were  given  in 
“ Physiology because  whatever  strengthens  it  thereby  in- 
vigorates the  brain  210.  As  to  fever  the  body  inflames  and 
perverts  the  propensities  209,  so  to  improve  the  former  strength- 
ens but  does  not  vitiate  the  animal  organs. 

Combativeness  often  requires  to  be  thus  cultivated  in  chil- 
dren and  youth.  When  a child  breaks  down  under  trifling 
obstacles  or  opposition,  and  cries  when  scolded  or  told  to  do 
different  things,  or  considers  molehills  mountains,  and  gives  up 
easily  to  difficulties,  or  when  a young  man  waits  and  hesi- 
tates as  to  what  kind  of  business  to  engage  in,  or,  after  he  has 
chosen  his  profession,  sits  down  and  waits  for  business  to  come 
to  him,  or  is  disheartened  and  always  telling  under  how  many 
disadvantages  he  labors,  or  how  others  impose  on  him,  this 
organ  in  both  requires  to  be  cultivated.  And  to  do  this,  never 
break  down  upon  them,  or  find  fault,  or  tell  them  how  much 
better  if  they  had  done  thus  and  so,  but  encourage  them  in 
regard  to  the  future.  Keep  them  doing,  and  tell  them  they 
can  if  they  only  try.  As  long  as  you  do  it  all  for  them,  they 
will  do  nothing  for  themselves  ; but  so  manage  as  to  compel 
them  to  rely  on  themselves,  and  elbow  their  own  way  along 
through  life.  Even  to  provoke  such  will  not  do  them  much 
damage,  provided  you  do  not  carry  it  so  far  as  to  break  down 
and  subdue  their  spirit,  but  only  just  far  enough  to  make  them 
resent  the  imposition.  Indeed,  I have  often  seen  people  made 
much  better  by  being  maddened — seen  their  pains,  headaches, 
and  other  physical  and  mental  maladies  dispelled  by  effec- 
tually rousing  a combative,  self-protecting  spirit. 

To  overcome,  this  is  its  specific  function.  Hence,  to  in- 
crease its  action  encourage  them  to  overcome  something.  Do 
not  give  them  so  much  to  do  as  to  dishearten  them.  Rally 
their  courage.  Tell  them  they  can  do  it  if  they  try.  Show 
them  that  by  putting  the  matter  right  through  they  will  gain 
this  and  that  desirable  end.  Above  all  things,  do  not  wait  on 


ITS  REGULATION. 


163 


them  in  little  matters,  or  fuss  over  them,  or  baby  them,  or 
let  others  do  for  them,  but  incite  them  to  fall  back  upon 
their  own  energies,  and  consummate  their  own  wishes  and 
purposes.  And  when  such,  or  almost  any  children,  fall  or  hurt 
themselves,  instead  of  picking  them  up,  let  them  pick  them- 
selves up,  unless  severely  hurt,  and  instead  of  sympathizing 
or  condoling  piteously  with  them,  encourage  them  by  telling 
them  it  is  only  a trifle,  to  not  mind  it,  but  to  jump  up  and  try 
it  again.  To  pity  them  makes  them  think  their  misfortune  is 
greater  than  it  is,  and  predisposes  them  to  break  down  under 
trials,  whereas,  since  all  are  exposed  to  reverses  or  calamities, 
children  should  early  be  fortified  against  them  by  being  en- 
couraged to  bear  up  with  heroic  fortitude  against  the  minor 
reverses  of  youth.  Pity  rather  breaks  them  down  and  discour- 
ages, whereas  fortitude  to  buffet  adversity  manfully  is  a most 
essential  element  of  success  and  happiness,  and  should  be  in- 
fused into  them  from  the  cradle  all  along  up  through  life. 

Though  Combativeness,  in  its  normal  function,  should  often 
be  encouraged  in  children,  fretfulness,  temper,  contention, 
wrangling,  hating,  and  this  whole  class  of  mental  operations 
are  perversions  of  this  faculty,  and  therefore  wrong  208.  This 
brings  us  to  discuss 

240.  ITS  ABUSES  AND  DUE  REGULATION. 

When  excessive,  or  perverted,  or  not  governed  by  the  higher 
faculties,  it  degenerates  into  pugnacity,  gives  a quick,  fiery 
temper,  and  engenders  contentious,  ungovernable,  fault-find- 
ing, cross,  and  ugly  feelings  and  conduct,  and  sometimes  leads 
to  rowdyism,  fighting,  mobocracy,  tumult,  etc.  From  its  ex- 
cessive or  perverted  action  spring  most  of  the  bickerings,  con- 
tentions, law-suits,  wranglings,  threatenings,  animosities,  liti- 
gations, abusiveness,  polemical  discussions,  wrath,  ill-temper, 
etc.,  which  prevail  in  society.  This  is  also  one  of  the  faculties 
which  curse  and  swear,  of  which,  however,  hereafter. 

The  contentious  are  necessarily  unhappy,  and  quarrelsome 
children  are  a torment  to  themselves  and  to  all  around  them ; 
but  “ blessed  are  the  peace-makers”  for  they  shall  enjoy  life. 
Have  readers  never  noticed  how  much  more  agreeable  and 


164 


COMBATIVENESS. 


happy  their  own  feelings  and  those  of  the  whole  family,  when 
a child  is  mild,  pleasant,  sweet  in  looks  and  words,  and  good- 
humored,  than  when  the  same  child  is  cross,  ugly,  fretful, 
spiteful,  disobedient,  hateful,  and  crying  half  the  time  l In 
other  words,  predominant  Combativeness  renders  its  possessor 
and  all  around  unpleasant  and  unhappy. 

The  usual  conduct  of  parents  to  their  children  is  calculated 
to  excite  this  organ  in  the  most  direct  and  powerful  manner, 
“ and  that  continually,”  rather  than  allay  it.  Most  parents 
fret,  or  scold,  or  blame,  or  punish  their  children  daily  and  al- 
most hourly,  and  that,  too,  for  things  either  harmless  in  them- 
selves, or  else  perfectly  right.  For  example  : children,  as  is 
perfectly  natural,  make  a great  noise,  both  with  their  tongues 
and  feet.  This  is  as  it  should  be.  Without  action,  they  die ; 
and  nothing  contributes  more  to  the  development  of  the  child’s 
body,  and  thereby  of  the  mind,  than  the  noisy  plays  and  prat- 
tle of  youth.  Talking  incessantly,  hallooing,  etc.,  inflate  the 
lungs,  and  increase  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  besides  devel- 
oping the  muscles145 — functions  of  the  last  importance  to  them, 
and  for  which  nature  has  amply  provided  in  the  restlessness 
and  talkativeness  of  their  natures.  And  yet,  fifty  times  in  the 
day,  all  their  innocent  prattle  and  healthful  play  are  broken 
in  upon  by  parents  and  teachers,  in  a combative  spirit  and 
tone — “ Oh,  do  hush  your  eternal  clatter  !”  “ Stop  that  noise 

yonder,  or  I’ll  give  you  something  to  make  a noise  about,” 
(chastise  you,)  or,  “ Do  be  still,  children,  you’ll  make  me 
crazy  or,  “ There,  now  sit  down,  and  sit  still  ! If  you  stir, 
or  make  another  bit  of  noise  for  an  hour,  I’ll  punish  you,”  or 
some  similar  threat  or  imperious  command.  As  well  punish 
them  for  breathing,  as  for  talking  or  playing  boisterously. 
They  cannot  avoid  the  latter  any  more  than  they  can  stop 
the  former.  They  should  not  stop.  They  are  but  yielding 
obedience  to  an  irresistible  law  of  their  natures,  and  should  be 
encouraged  and  facilitated  rather  than  repressed.  If  they  are 
in  your  way,  let  them  go  out  of  doors  to  romp  and  prattle 
there : but  do  not,  I beseech  you,  continually  irritate  their 
tempers,  by  requiring  of  them  what  they  cannot  and  should 
not  perform,  and  then  blame  or  punish  them  for  disobedience 


ITS  RESTRAINT. 


165 


A child  takes  hold  of  a table  spread,  and  thoughtlessly  pulls 
it  along  till  a dish  or  two  falls  off ; for  which  he  is  severely 
punished,  though  he  intended  no  harm.  Or  it  is  told  to 
bring  a tumbler  of  water,  or  something  else,  in  doing  which  it 
slips  down  and  breaks  a dish,  or  does  some  other  damage. 
Your  own  Acquisitiveness  is  wounded  by  the  loss,  and  your 
Combativeness  excited,  which  makes  you  scold,  whereas  you 
should  pity.  Thus  it  is  that  children  are  blamed  for  a thou- 
sand similar  things  constantly  occurring,  when  entirely  inno- 
cent, or  deserving  commendation.  This  finding  fault  just 
because  they  do  not  know  how  to  do  things  exactly  to  suit 
you,  or  because  it  is  not  done  exactly  as  you  wish,  excites 
their  Combativeness 215  and  reverses  their  Conscientiousness, 
hence  they,  too,  grow  up  to  find  fault,  and  be  ill-tempered. 
Their  Combativeness  is  kept  in  a continual  ferment,  and  con- 
sequently becomes  morbidly  and  permanently  active,  and  so 
breaks  forth  continually  upon  themselves  and  even  upon  in- 
animate objects. 

Or,  it  may  be,  that  a child  hits  its  toe  against  a stick,  stone, 
or  chair,  and  falls  down  and  hurts  itself.  The  over-tender 
mother  catches  up  that  which  caused  the  child  to  fall,  and 
whips  or  scolds  it  for  hurting  “ itty  sissy.”  The  next  day, 
another  child  occasions  pain  to  “ itty  sissy,”  and  she,  follow- 
ing the  example  set  by  her  parent  or  nurse,  of  punishing  what 
gives  it  pain,  beats  the  other  child,  and  gets  beaten  back  again, 
and  a regular  quarrel  ensues  ; whereas,  if  the  parent  had  but 
taught  lessons  of  forbearance  and  forgiveness  rather  than  of 
revenge,  the  disposition  of  the  child  would  have  been  sweet 
and  amiable. 

Some,  whose  Mirthfulness  and  Combativeness  are  active, 
take  pleasure  in  teasing  children,  just  to  witness  their  angry 
and  saucy  retorts.  This  is  most  pernicious.  Children  should 
never  be  plagued.  Parents,  if  you  love  your  families,  remon- 
strate with  those  who  provoke  your  children,  and  if  they  do 
not  desist,  dismiss  them.  On  no  account  should  you  suffer  the 
tempers  of  your  children  to  be  permanently  soured,  and  their 
moral  feelings  lowered,  by  being  tantalized.  Children  get 
much  of  their  ill-temper  from  being  plagued. 


166 


DESTRdCT' VENESS. 


7.  DESTRUCTIVENESS,  OR  EXECUTIVENESS. 

241.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  LARGE,  AND  SMALL. 

Force  ; extermination  ; indignation  ; severity  ; harsh- 
ness ; sternness  ; walk-right-through-ativeness  ; dispo- 
sition to  DESTROY,  TEAR,  BREAK  DOWN,  CAUSE  PAIN,  and  CRUSH 
whatever  obstructs  its  path. 

Located  above  the  upper  junction  of  the  ear  with  the  head, 
and  extending  about  an  inch  above  this  junction.  It  runs 
from  Combativeness  forward.  The  line  drawn  from  the  eyes 
through  the  tops  of  the  ears  219,  passes  through  the  centre  of 
this  organ.  It  is  large  in  the  accompanying  engraving  of 
Gotfried,  who  poisoned  her  own  parents,  children,  and  hus- 
band— thirteen  in  all — but  small  in  that  of  Eustache,  who 
saved  his  master  from  the  St.  Domingo  massacre,  spent  all  his 
means  in  doing  good,  and  received  a gold  medal  as  a token  of 
his  exalted  virtues. 


DESTRUCTIVENESS  LARGE.  SMALL. 


Large  Destructiveness  imparts  hardness,  harshness,  force, 
sternness,  severity,  and  a disposition  to  break  through  or  exter* 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


lt>7 

minate  all  obstacles ; renders  its  possessor  fearful  when  pro. 
voked  ; and  delights  in  destroying  whatever  requires  destruc- 
tion,  as  well  as  endures  and  inflicts  pain  ; while  small  Destruc- 
tiveness can  do  neither,  but  is  pusillanimous  and  inefficient,  and 
shrinks  from  the  sight  and  endurance  of  pain.  Its  function 
will  be  rendered  still  more  clear  by  its 

242  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Universal  nature  is  one  grand  and  perpetual  process  of 
destruction  ; and  to  this  process  Destructiveness  is  adapted, 
and  adapts  man.  Moreover,  for  the  wisest  of  reasons,  man  is 
governed  by  laws5.  But  without  pain  attached  to  their  viola- 
tion, to  deter  from  repeated  infraction,  half  their  present  sanc- 
tion would  be  wanting6.  In  this  permission  and  existence  of 
pain,  Destructiveness  has  its  counterpart,  and  to  it  adapts 
mankind.  Many  things  also  require  to  be  destroyed.  Thus, 
before  we  can  till  the  earth  and  gather  the  comforts  of  life 
around  us,  trees  must  be  felled,  the  land  cleared,  broken  up, 
and  subdued,  and  many  noxious  things  exterminated.  With- 
out this  faculty,  even  grain  could  not  be  gathered,  or  fruit 
plucked,  or  any  important  end  of  life  attained.  The  requi- 
sition for  its  exercise  in  the  moral  world  is  still  greater,  as 
without  it  no  evil  could  be  exterminated,  no  good  could  be 
effected.  Its  improvement,  therefore,  becomes  as  important 
as  this  function  is  indispensable. 

In  effecting  such  cultivation,  bear  in  mind  that  great  prin- 
ciple of  inter-relation  existing  between  the  body  and  the  base 
of  the  brain210.  To  fever  the  body  irritates  this  organ,  and 
to  invigorate  the  former  imparts  tone  and  power  to  the  latter ; 
so  that  to  improve  the  health — directions  for  doing  which  will 
be  found  in  Vol.  I.  on  Physiology — is  the  natural  and  most 
effectual  method  of  imparting  tone  and  power  to  this  fac- 
ulty. This  means  also  promotes  its  normal  and  virtuous 
exercise208,  while  to  inflame  both  the  body  and  this  organ  by 
heating  meats  and  drinKs,  or  by  tantalizing  others,  killing 
animals,  or  causing  pain,  occasions  its  abnormal,  and  of  course 
depraved,  action.  Its  legitimate  office  being  to  destroy  nui- 
sances and  break  through  difficulties,  it  can  be  developed  by 


168 


DESTRUCTIVENESS. 


cultivating  force  and  executiveness,  by  breaking  through 
obstacles,  and  throwing  yourself  into  those  situations  where 
you  are  obliged  to  cope  with  difficulties.  Take  the  rough- 
and-tumble  of  life  with  a zest,  and  put  your  plans  straight 
through  all  that  opposes  them.  Exercise  it  under  Conscien- 
tiousness in  moral  indignation  against  the  wrong,  and  in  urging 
forward  the  right.  Stand  by  the  innocent.  Brace  yourself 
against  the  guilty.  Exercise  this  element  in  these  and  simi- 
lar ways,  and  its  tone  and  vigor  will  improve ; but  never 
allow  yourself  to  indulge  a weakly,  inefficient  spirit. 

To  develop  this  faculty  in  children,  put  them  upon  their  own 
resources,  encourage  them  to  help  themselves ; and  instead 
of  doing  for  them  those  thousand  little  services  which  mothers 
so  generally  perform,  let  them  do  for  themselves  or  go  with- 
out. Push  your  inefficient  son  out  into  the  stream  of  life  to 
buffet  for  himself  its  winds  of  difficulty  and  waves  of  oppo- 
sition, and  while  you  stand  by  to  encourage  him  to  keep  his 
head  above  water,  and  to  raise  him  in  case  he  should  sink, 
let  him  do  all  his  own  swimming.  Make  him  hoe  his  own 
rows  and  fight  his  own  battles.  In  short,  place  the  natural 
stimulants  of  this  faculty  before  it,  and  you  can  soon  inspire 
him  with  all  needed  force  and  energy. 

243.  ITS  DUE  REGULATION  AND  RESTRAINT  ! SWEARING. 

But  this  faculty  is  generally  too  large,  relatively,  and  also 
abnormal  in  function,  and  therefore  requires  a hundred-fold 
more  regulation  and  restraint  than  cultivation.  Most  mankind 
are  too  harsh,  vituperative,  bitter,  sarcastic,  and  even  cruel, 
revengeful,  and  malicious,  and  too  many  are  warlike  and 
murderous — all  perversions  of  this  faculty.  Most  of  that 
animosity,  rage,  hatred,  cursing,  swearing,  and  the  like,  so 
prevalent  among  men,  are  begotten  by  this  faculty.  How  can 
they  be  checked  in  ourselves  and  others  ? 

First,  by  the  principle  of  diversion.  When  you  find  your 
wrath  rising  unduly  in  conversation  or  business,  turn  on  your 
heel  and  banish  the  provocation,  however  great,  by  doing  or 
thinking  of  something  else — something  which  shall  effectually 
withdraw  your  mind  from  the  aggravation  and  consequent 


SWEARING. 


169 


anger.  This  dwelling  on  them,  while  it  seldom  obviates  any 
evil,  only  still  farther  sours  the  temper  and  re-enlarges  Destruc- 
tiveness. Reflect,  in  addition,  that  the  error  may  possibly  be 
yours — that  your  enemy  thinks  himself  wronged  as  much  as 
you  do,  and  justifies  his  course  as  much  as  yru  do  yours ; 
that  to  err  is  human ; and  that  the  cause  of  the  dispute  may 
possibly  be  on  both  sides ; that  even  if  he  alone  is  in  fault,  yet 
that,  as  you  hope  to  be  forgiven,  so  you  must  be  willing  to 
forgive ; and  that  very  likely  the  fault  of  which  you  perhaps 
justly  complain  may  have  been  caused  by  an  irritated  state 
of  his  stomach  and  nervous  system,  and  the  consequent  pre- 
ternatural and  abnormal  action  of  his  Destructiveness208  210, 
or  of  yours,  or  perhaps  that  of  both — that  he  and  you  may 
be  more  sick  than  intentionally  depraved  ; that,  even  sup- 
posing the  worst,  to  turn  the  other  cheek  is  Christian,  and 
to  overcome  evil  with  good  is  divine.  This  diversion,  in 
connection  with  these  and  kindred  reflections,  will  soon  curb 
your  temper,  and  restore  a serene  and  happy  frame  of 
mind. 

Especially  never  swear.  What  are  oaths  and  curses  but 
expressions  of  wrath  and  vengeance  ? The  moral  sentiments 
never  swear.  Nothing  but  animal  propensity  in  its  worst 
form,  and  ungoverned  by  the  higher  faculties,  ever  feel  or 
utter  imprecations.  Reference  is  not  now  had  to  the  sinfulness 
of  oaths  as  blaspheming  the  name  of  God,  but  to  that  gross 
animality  of  which  cursing  is  the  natural  language.  Angels 
never  swear,  only  devils,  or  mankind  when  and  as  far  as  they 
are  animal  and  devilish.  And  the  more  effectually  one  can 
swear,  the  more  of  an  animal  he  is.  Oaths  and  blasphemies 
are  the  emanations  and  barometers  of  Combativeness  and  De- 
structiveness, ungoverned  by  moral  sentiment  and  intellect, 
and  therefore  the  reverse  of  goodness211.  The  better  any  man, 
the  less  he  swears ; the  worse,  the  more.  And  those  who 
pride  themselves  in  their  swearing  capabilities,  are  but  vaunt- 
ing and  glorying  in  their  own  shame  and  depravity. 

Above  all  things,  do  not  make  so  consummate  a fool  of 
yourself  as  to  curse  inanimate  things  or  dumb  brutes.  As 
though  sticks  and  stones  were  to  blame ! What  fault  there 
15 


170 


DESTRUCTIVENESS. 


is,  is  yours.  What  is  more  unreasonable  or  wicked  than 
damning  senseless  things  1 

Still  more  ridiculous  and  wicked  for  children  to  swear,  ex- 
cept when  they  do  it  from  imitation.  To  see  boys  try  to  utter 
oaths,  and  bandy  each  other  with  curses  and  imprecations,  is 
shocking  in  itself,  and  shows  in  what  society  they  have  min- 
gled, Yet  the  way  to  stop  children  from  swearing  is  to  sub- 
due that  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness  which  begets  this 
ridiculous,  depraved  habit. 

To  restrain  the  Destructiveness  of  children  is  probably  the 
most  difficult,  as  it  certainly  is  the  most  important  duty  con- 
nected with  their  education.  Even  very  young  children,  in 
whom  this  organ  is  large,  as  it  generally  is,  instinctively 
break,  burn,  and  destroy,  playthings,  and  whatever  they  can 
lay  hold  of,  and  older  ones  are  rough,  harsh,  and  boisterous  at 
play,  and  too  often  evince  much  severity  of  temper  with  vin- 
dictiveness and  violence  of  anger,  perhaps  throw  themselves 
on  the  floor,  and  bawl  lustily,  or  even  stamp,  kick,  bite,  strike, 
and  foam  with  rage.  A boy  only  four  years  old,  brought  up 
in  a tavern,*  and  continually  teased,  becoming  enraged  at  his 
brother,  caught  up  a fork  and  plunged  it  into  his  neck.  Many 
parents  are  pained  by  similar  ebullitions  in  their  children,  and 
would  give  the  world  to  be  able  to  reduce  their  temper,  yet  all 
their  efforts  only  make  matters  worse.  How  can  such  parents 
manage  such  children  ? 

One  of  the  first  and  most  effectual  steps  consists  in  employ- 
ing that  principle  of  diversion  already  prescribed  for  adults. 
When  your  child  becomes  angry,  talking  to  him,  be  it  ever  so 
kindly,  only  still  farther  enkindles  his  fierce  wrath  ; and  pun- 
ishment, even  though  it  ultimately  subdues,  only  still  farther 
re-excites,  and  thereby  re-increase  that  Destructiveness  which 
you  wish  to  restrain.  To  say  nothing  till  the  fit  subsides  of  its 
own  accord  also  allows  that  exercise  of  this  organ  which  en- 
larges it.  But  if  some  member  of  the  family  should  set  on 

* A liquor  selling  bar-room  is  the  ast  place  on  earth  for  bringing  up 
children,  because  there  they  see  and  hear  all  that  is  bad,  and  little  good, 
learn  to  swear,  blackguard,  and  fight,  and  form  associations  of  a most 
ruinous  character  21  °. 


ITS  RESTRAINT  IN  CHILDREN. 


171 


foot  some  music,  or  noise,  or  blow  a horn,  or  beat  a tin  pan, 
or  do  anything  else  calculated  to  divert  attention,  away  he  goes, 
forgetting  alike  his  grievance  and  its  cause,  and  this  allows 
the  inflamed  organ  to  become  quiescent  sooner  than  any  other 
method  could  do.  To  excite  his  Mirthfulness  by  playing  with 
him  will  subserve  the  same  important  end.  When  the  fit  is 
over,  talk  to  him,  but  of  this  hereafter. 

Not  to  excite  Destructiveness  should,  however,  be  your 
great  concern.  Avoid  provoking  those  whose  Destructiveness 
you  would  reduce.  Every  provocation  only  re-inflames  this 
organ,  and  the  more  quiet  you  can  keep  it  the  less  strength  it 
will  acquire.  The  principle  on  which  this  all-important  in- 
ference is  based  has  already  been  fully  proved214  215,  and  we 
beg  parents  to  heed  it,  and  put  it  rigidly  in  practice. 

“But,”  it  is  inquired,  “ shall  we  be  so  fearful  of  displeas- 
ing them  as  to  indulge  them  in  all  their  desires,  and  thus  vir- 
tually surrender  the  reins  of  government  to  their  caprices  V 9 
Just  how  far  it  is  best  to  indulge  them,  it  may  be  difficult  to 
say,  or,  rather,  must  be  determined  by  the  particular  circum- 
stances at  the  time,  yet  this  general  principle  may  be  taken  as 
a fundamental  guide — to  indulge  them  in  all  those  little  mat- 
ters not  positively  wrong  or  injurious  in  themselves  ; because, 
by  so  doing,  you  awaken  or  augment  that  love  already  shown 
to  be  the  great  means  of  securing  obedience221.  Yet  we  can- 
not profitably  discuss  the  best  mode  of  governing  them,  or, 
indeed,  of  curbing  our  own  Destructiveness,  till  we  have 
analyzed  those  other  and  higher  faculties  which  constitute  the 
principal  means  of  holding  abnormal  propensity  in  check. 
Meanwhile,  we  wish  effectually  to  re-impress  two  cardinal 
points  upon  the  minds  of  parents — the  first,  that  the  more  this 
faculty  is  excited  and  exercised  the  more  it  becomes  enlarged 
and  re-invigorated214,  and  therefore  that  children  should  be 
provoked  as  little  as  possible,  and  hence  should  be  treated  with 
mildness,  leniency,  and  affection  ; and,  secondly,  that  much 
of  their  ugliness  is  caused  by  the  irritated  state  of  their  bodies 
and  of  course  propensities  210,  so  that  the  great  means  of  sub- 
duing  their  temper,  and  exchanging  their  badness  for  goodnes? 
is  by  diet,  regimen,  and  keeping  their  bodies  ir  a normal  and 


172 


DESTRUCTIVENESS. 


vigorous  state  by  fulfilling  the  laws  and  conditions  of  health, 
directions  for  doing  which  were  prescribed  in  Yol.  I. 

To  one  other  point  in  this  connection  special  attention  is 
invited.  Parents,  especially  mothers,  often  induce  a feverish 
state  of  their  own  nervous  systems,  by  confining  themselves 
within  doors  day  after  day,  and  month  after  month,  without 
exercise,  except  what  is  too  partial  to  be  of  much  service, 
without  fresh  air,  and  in  heated  rooms 162 ; eating  unwholesome 
food,  pouring  down  strong  decoctions  of  tea  and  coffee,  etc.,  till 
a chronic  irritability  of  their  nerves  and  brain,  and  perhaps 
a slow  fever,  supervene,  which  of  course  render  them  fret- 
ful209. Ignorant  of  the  fact  that  this  irritability  is  induced  by 
fhe  disorder  of  their  own  nervous  systems,  they  blame  others, 
while  they  alone  are  blamable.  They  vent  these  sick  and 
sour  feelings  on  their  children,  and  find  fault  with  every  little 
thing.  Being  so  very  nervous,  noise  is  especially  painful  to 
them,  and  they  therefore  pour  out  a continual  dribbling  of 
blame  and  anger  upon  their  children  because  they  are  noisy, 
and  for  a thousand  other  things  which  the  very  nature  of 
children  compels  them  to  do.  Children  feel  that  they  are 
blamed  without  cause.  This  wounds  and  lowers  their  moral 
feelings.  In  harmony  with  a principle  already  presented, 
Combativeness  in  parents  naturally  excites  the  Combativeness 
of  their  children  2l5,  and  the  consequence  is,  a permanent  ex- 
citement and  an  undue  development  of  these  Organs;  and  all 
because  parents  violate  the  laws  of  health.  Do,  parents,  look 
at  this  subject  in  its  proper  light,  and  keep  yourselves  well. 
This  will  induce  good  feeling  in  you,  which  will  continually 
excite,  and  thereby  develop,  the  moral,  better  feelings  of  your 
children25,  and  cause  them  to  grow  up  under  the  rein  of 
the  mo"al  sentiments. 


FUNCTION  OF  ALIMENTIVENESS. 


173 


8.  ALIMENTIVENESS 

“ Put  a knife  to  thy  throat  if  thou  be  a man  given  to  appetita  ’ 

244.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  LARGE  AND  SMALL 

Appetite;  the  feeding  instinct;  desire  for  nutrition; 
hunger,  or  craving  for  food  ; a hearty  relish  for  edibles. 

Located  half  an  inch  forward  of  the  junction  of  the  fore 
and  upper  part  of  the  ears  with  the  head.  It  is  very  large  in 
the  accompanying  engraving  of  that  notorious  glutton,  the  em- 
peror Vitellius,  who  had  two  thousand  different  dishes  of 
fish,  and  seven  thousand  of  fowls,  served  up  at  a single  meal, 


ALIMENTIVENESS  VERY  LARGE. 


and  expended,  on  his  table  alone,  at  the  enormous  rate  of 
one  hundred  millions  annually,  till  his  exasperated  subjects 
tore  him  in  pieces ; otherwise  the  immense  opulence  of  th* 
15* 


174 


ALIMENTIVENESS. 


Roman  empire  would  not  have  sufficed  to  support  his  table  a 
single  year  ! See  the  glutton,  not  only  in  the  fullness  before 
his  ears,  but  throughout  his  entire  physiology. 

Large  Alimentiveness  gives  a hearty  relish  for  substantial, 
nourishing  food,  and,  when  nature  requires  sustenance,  enjoys 
it  more  and  more  in  proportion  to  the  size  and  activity  cf  this 
organ,  and  the  need  of  nourishment ; loves  to  eat,  and  takes 
a great  deal  of  pleasure  at  the  table,  yet  does  not  necessarily 
require  great  quantities  of  food,  or  highly-seasoned  dishes, 
but  simply  enjoys  what  nature  requires  for  sustaining  life  and 
health,  as  to  both  quantity  and  quality.  Gormandizing  is  often 
the  result  of  its  being  too  large,  yet  generally  the  product  of 
its  perversion  208,  or  of  an  inflamed  condition  of  the  stomach 69, 
or  both,  and  these  of  eating  highly-seasoned,  indigestible,  and 
injurious  kinds  of  diet.  These  inflame  the  stomach,  and  its 
inflammation  causes  those  hankerings  and  cravings  which  ac- 
company dyspepsia,  and  cause  gluttony.  Let  men  eat  plain 
food,  of  the  right  kinds,  as  prescribed  in  “ Physiology/’  and  if 
they  have  dyspectic  tendencies,  obviate  them  by  following  the 
prescriptions  there  laid  down,  and  the  danger  of  over-eating  is 
comparatively  small  ; yet  that,  as  it  is,  nearly  all  now  eat 
twice  or  thrice  as  much  as  nature  requires,  and  every  way 
very  badly,  was  there  abundantly  shown  65  66  67  68  69. 

Small  Alimentiveness  cares  little  about  food ; experiences 
little  hunger  even  during  protracted  fasting ; and  is  compara- 
tively regardless  alike  of  what  it  eats,  or  whether  it  eats  or 
not.  Those  who  are  so  fond  of  nice  things,  and  so,  very  par- 
ticular that  they  must  have  their  food  cooked  just  to  their 
liking  or  they  cannot  eat,  are  generally  rendered  so  less  by 
large  or  small  Alimentiveness  than  by  stomatic  disorder,  or  by 
a finely  organized  temperament  and  consequent  fastidiousness 
in  regard  to  everything ; that  is,  by  the  state  of  this  organ 
rather  than  by  its  size.  But  its  precise  function  will  be  ren- 
dered more  apparent  by  its 

245.  ADAPTATION  AND  MEANS  OF  CULTIVATION. 

Man  is  an  eating  animal.  By  a law  of  his  physical  consti- 
tution, every  exercise  of  every  muscle,  nerve,  and  organ — 


ITS  FUNCTION  AND  CULTIVATION. 


175 


every  function  of  mind  and  body — expends  both  organic  ma- 
terial and  vital  energy  28.  These  must  of  course  be  re-sup- 
plied, or  complete  exhaustion  must  ensue 29,  which  would 
soon  destroy  life  165.  This  re-supply  is  effected  in  part  by  the 
stomach.  Man  requires  food  29,  and  is  furnished  with  a diges- 
tive apparatus  for  converting  it  into  blood,  flesh,  organ,  etc., 
whereby  life  is  prolonged.  But  without  some  innate  faculty 
to  create  a love  of  food,  or  occasion  hunger,  we  should  become 
so  deeply  engaged  in  our  various  avocations  as  to  forget  to  eat, 
or  be  unwilling  to  spare  the  requisite  time — even  now  too 
many  do  this — and  thus  not  only  forego  the  pleasures  of 
the  palate,  but  actually  starve  ; to  prevent  which  nature  kindly 
implants  in  every  human  being  this  feeding  instinct,  and  has 
60  related  it  to  the  stomach,  that  the  latter,  when  it  requires  a 
re-supply  of  nourishment,  excites  the  former  to  crave  food. 
This  craving  becomes  louder  and  more  imperious  in  proportion 
to  the  urgency  with  which  the  system  requires  nutrition,  until 
finally  it  becomes  a master  passion,  and  renders  its  starving 
subject  so  desperate  as  to  devour  even  his  own  flesh  and  drink 
his  own  blood,  when  he  can  obtain  nothing  else  to  satisfy  its 
rapacious  cravings.  Of  all  forms  of  death,  starvation  is  prob- 
ably the  most  terrible,  and  of  all  our  other  appetites  and  pas* 
sions,  that  for  food,  when  fasting  has  been  injuriously  pro- 
tracted, is  probably  the  most  desperate.  Does  not  this  law  of 
nature  give  all  mankind  in  a starving  condition  an  “ inalien- 
able right”  to  food  wherever  they  can  find  it  ? Are  not 
those  who  have  abundance,  solemnly  bound  to  feed  those  who, 
after  having  done  their  best  to  procure  an  honest  maintenance, 
aie  unable  to  do  so?  Shall  the  starving  Irish  peasant  appeal 
in  vain  for  bread?  Nor  is  any  other  occupation  more  honor- 
able than  agriculture. 

To  cultivate  this  faculty,  indulge  it  by  enjoying  food  and 
eating  with  a relish.  Food  was  made  to  taste  good  and  be 
enjoyed.  Gustatory  pleasure  is  as  lawful  as  the  pleasures  of 
doing  good,  and  he  who  cuts  it  short  by  eating  too  fast,  or  net 
dvi  y indulging  it,  commits  as  much  sin  as  he  who  denies  to  any 
other  faculty  its  primitive  gratification.  Nor  should  it  be  for- 
gotten that  when  we  so  eat  as  to  gratify  this  faculty  in  the 


176 


ALIMENITIVENESS. 


most  effectual  manner  possible,  we  thereby  eat  so  as  to  feed 
the  body  in  the  best  manner  possible ; and,  by  converse,  that 
all  injurious  kinds  and  quantities  of  food  curtail  gustatory 
pleasure  as  well  as  physical  and  mental  capabilities.  Those 
kinds  and  amounts  of  food,  and  that  mode  of  eating  it,  are 
best  which  relish  most33;  so  that  to  eat  right  confers  the 
greatest  amount  of  general  as  well  as  gustatory  enjoyment. 
The  idea,  therefore,  that  appetite  must  be  denied,  is  erroneous. 
Only  its  abnormal,  perverted,  and  painful  exercise  requires 
restraint  or  denial. 

246.  ITS  RESTRAINT  AND  RIGHT  DIRECTION, 

Few  faculties  are  more  generally  perverted  than  this  ; and 
only  one,  Amativeness,  stands  in  greater  need  of  right  direc- 
tion. The  Bible  tells  us  that  the  sin  of  our  first  parents  con- 
sisted in  eating  ; and  both  physiology  and  fact  attest  that  per- 
verted appetite,  or  the  enormous  gormandizing  of  rich  and 
stimulating  kinds  of  food,  in  connection  with  alcoholic  and 
other  noxious  drinks,  cause  a great  proportion  of  the  depravity 
of  mankind.  Paul  meant  something  when  he  commanded, 
“ Be  ye  temperate  in  all  things nor  does  the  Bible  con- 
demn gluttony  and  wine-bibbing,  from  first  to  last,  for  naught. 
Indeed,  I construe  its  narrative  of  the  eating  of  the  forbidden 
fruit  as  introducing  into  our  world  “ death  and  all  our  woes/5 
to  mean  that  perverted  appetite,  or  wrong  eating,  caused  the 
fall  of  man  and  most  of  his  subsequent  depravity  and  conse- 
quent suffering.  But,  be  this  as  it  may,  one  thing  is  certain, 
that  the  starting  point  of  human  reformation  and  restoration  is 
the  stomach.  Its  influence  in  inflaming  the  system,  and  the 
irritated  state  of  the  body  as  inflaming  and  perverting  the  ani- 
mal propensities,  has  already  been  so  effectually  demonstrated 
as  completely  to  establish  this  point210.  The  due  regulation 
of  Alimentiveness,  then,  is  the  great  instrumentality  of  all  self- 
improvement.  To  become  good  or  great,  men  must  first  learn 
how  to  eat.  But  having  fully  discussed  this  whole  matter  of 
diet  in  “ Physiology/5  and  given  prescriptions  for  restraining 
this  faculty  70  71,  repetition  here  is  unnecessary. 

The  proper  feeding  of  children  is  of  course  one  of  the  most 


THE  FEEDING  OF  CHILDREN. 


177 


important  matters  connected  with  their  education.  That 
much  of  their  waywardness  and  depravity,  over  which  their 
parents  mourn  so  piteously,  is  caused  by  unsuitable  diet,  is  a 
legitimate  conclusion  established  by  many  laws  already  dem- 
onstrated. We  protested  in  Yol.  I.  against  their  eating  cakes 
and  candies56,  yet  will  here  state  the  great  law  which  should 
govern  the  diet  of  children.  Nature’s  food  for  infants  is  ex- 
ceedingly simple  and  easily  digested.  This  teaches  us  that 
all  children  and  youth  should  be  brought  up  on  plain  fare,  and 
on  what  is  rich  in  nutrition,  yet  easily  digested.  Mothers  cram 
their  children  from  the  very  cradle,  and,  besides  this  stuff- 
ing, necessarily  pervert  their  appetites  by  feeding  them  with 
rich  food,  pastry,  and  condiments.  These,  children  generally 
reject  at  first,  and  greatly  prefer  simple  food.  Do  not  pervert 
their  tastes  in  the  start.  Consult  their  natural  relish.  Do 
not  give  them  cake  which  they  do  not  love  at  first,  and  eat 
only  because  hungry,  and  thus  form  an  artificial  appetite  for 
it ; and  so  of  other  things.  If  your  child  be  hungry,  good 
bread  will  relish,  and  when  it  does  not  like  this,  let  it  wait  till 
it  does.  We  give  children  the  same  strong,  hearty,  highly- 
seasoned  food  which  we  ourselves  cannot  eat  with  impunity, 
whereas  their  stomachs  are  yet  too  weak  to  master  them. 
This  disorders  both  stomach  and  system,  and  engenders  all 
sorts  of  depraved  mental  manifestations209  210. 

Still,  children  should  eat  at  table  with  the  family,  for  two 
reasons : the  one  to  cement  their  affections  for  their  parents — 
than  which  few  things  are  equally  effectual—  and,  secondly, 
that  they  may  learn  to  eat  decently ; for  if  they  are  kept 
away  from  the  first  table,  they  rush  to  the  second  like  hungry 
wolves,  and  wrangle  for  the  best  pieces  left  like  so  many 
starved  pigs — and  thus  grow  up  piggish  at  table ; whereas,  if 
they  sit  down  with  grown  people,  such  swinish  gormandizing 
is  restrained.  Yet  parents  who  object  to  this  course  on  the 
score  of  trouble  while  eating,  need  have  no  care  in  waiting  on 
them,  provided  they  dish  out  to  each  child  its  portion  in  the 
start,  as  the  Scotch  do,  and  let  it  be  understood  that  this  must 
suffice.  The  Scotch  manner  of  feeding  their  children — giv- 
ing them  a fixed  allowance  of  oatmeal  gruel  for  breakfast  and 


178 


ALIMENTIVENESS. 


supper,  and  vegetable  soup  for  dinner,  and  only  one  plain  dish 
at  each  meal — cannot  be  too  strongly  recommended,  or,  rather, 
commends  itself  in  that  noble  race  which  this  regimen  has 
been  the  chief  instrument  in  producing.  This  giving  chil- 
dren plateful  after  plateful  as  they  request,  perverts  Alimen- 
tiveness  in  the  most  effectual  manner  possible.  Mothers  re- 
quire, more  than  any  other  preparation  for  training  children, 
a practical  knowledge  of  dietetics,  or  the  best  manner  of  feed- 
ing children,  so  as  the  most  fully  to  develop  all  their  physical 
and  mental  powers.  Yet  to  prosecute  this  subject  fully  here, 
would  take  us  out  of  our  prescribed  course,  and  will  be  found 
considered  at  length  in  the  author’s  work  on  “ Maternity.” 

When  children  over-eat,  do  not  attempt  to  curb  this  faculty 
by  forbidding  them  to  eat  any  more,  because  this  will  only  re- 
increase desire ; nor  should  they  be  supplied  with  all  they 
want ; for  this  indulgence  will  only  strengthen  the  faculty  to 
be  restrained ; but  serve  out  at  first  what  you  think  they  re- 
quire, and  when  that  is  about  dispatched,  employ  that  princi- 
ple of  diversion  already  pointed  out243,  by  having  some  noise 
or  amusement  started  out  of  doors,  or  in  another  room,  which 
shall  allure  them  from  table,  and  make  them  forget  that  they 
want  any  more.  Then  keep  them  out  and  engaged  till  the 
next  meal.  Never  give  pieces  between  meals  73  490. 

One  of  the  best  means  of  punishing  children,  if  punishment 
is  deemed  advisable,  is  to  deny  them  some  luxury  of  the  pal- 
ate, or  keep  them  on  short  allowance.  Thus,  if  a boy  be- 
comes angry  at  table,  because  he  cannot  have  whatever  he 
wants,  and  throws  down  his  knife  and  fork,  declaring  that  he 
will  not  eat  any  more  unless  he  can  get  what  is  desired,  take 
him  at  his  word.  Let  him  leave  the  table,  and  see  to  it  that^ 
he  gets  nothing  more  till  the  next  meal.  Fasting,  or  living  on 
bread  and  water  will  subdue  the  propensities  when  nothing 
else  will ; first,  because,  since  most  people  eat  too  much  65  66 
67  69,  it  clears  out  the  system,  and  this  improves  the  body,  and 
thereby  the  base  of  the  brain  ; and,  secondly,  because  it  is 
about  as  severe  a punishment  as  can  well  be  inflicted. 


COLD  WATER  PUNISHMENT. 


i 79 


AQUATIVENESS,  OR  BIBATIVENESS. 

247.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  ADAPTATION,  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Love  of  water  ; desire  to  drink,  wash,  swim,  sail,  etc. 
Located  half  an  inch  forward  of  Alimentiveness  244.  Adapted 
to  the  existence  and  usefulness  of  water.  Two-thirds  of  the 
earth’s  surface  are  covered  with  this  element,  and  about  four- 
fifths  of  every  human  being  are  composed  of  it.  Nor  can 
animal  or  vegetable  life  be  preserved  without  it  103  104.  Hence, 
man  is  constituted  a drinking  animal.  Water,  taken  inter- 
nally, and  applied  externally,  is  delightful  to  both  taste  and 
touch,  as  well  as  every  way  promotive  of  health  uo.  To  this 
demand  and  utility  of  water  this  faculty  is  adapted. 

It  should  therefore  be  cultivated.  We  should  drink  freely, 
yet  only  at  proper  times 170,  and  wash  and  bathe  much 110.  Water 
prospects  are  also  delightful,  nor  are  steamboat  excursions  and 
sailing  voyages  unpleasant  or  unprofitable,  provided  the  stom- 
ach is  in  the  right  state,  and  the  weather  and  other  things  are 
favorable.  Nearly  all  children  love  to  play  in  water.  Let 
them.  They  are  indulging  a primary  element  of  their  na- 
ture, and  of  course  will  be  benefited  thereby.  They  should 
also  be  washed  often  uo. 

L.  N.  Fowler  recommends  the  external  application  of  wa- 
ter as  a punishment,  and  his  views  and  illustrations  are  given 
here ; yet  the  author  is  less  sanguine  as  to  their  correctness 
than  formerly.  He  tells  the  following  autobiographic  anec- 
dote : — 

“ My  father  always  made  it  a rule  to  conquer  his  children  the 
first  time  he  took  them  in  hand.  On  this  point  he  reasoned  thus : 
4 If  I subdue  them  the  first  time,  I shall  effectually  obtain  the 
mastery,  and  can  keep  it  easily ; but  if  they  conquer  the  first  time, 
they  will  be  still  worse  the  next.’  When  about  three  years  old,  I 
cried  for  a piece  of  cake.  As  there  was  no  more,  I could  not  be 
gratified,  and  cried  more  and  louder,  till  father  was  sent  for,  who 
offered  me  bread  and  butter,  and  ordered  me  to  stop  crying.  I 
refused  the  bread  and  butter,  but  cried  still  louder,  and  was  threat- 
ened with  punishment,  but  only  became  the  more  angry.  My 
father  sent  for  a rod,  and  began  to  chastise  me,  whipping  a blow 
or  two,  and  then  talking.  This  made  me  still  more  angry.  This 
punishment  was  continued  with  increasing  severity  till  all  left  th® 


180 


AQUATIVENESS. 


house  crying  with  sympathy  for  me,  but  not  daring  to  remonstrate 
for  they  well  knew  my  father’s  determination  to  conquer  his  chil 
dren,  especially  the  first  time.  I held  out  till  my  father  feared  to 
whip  longer.  Compelled  to  give  up,  he  was  careful  not  to  cross 
me  for  more  than  a year,  and  feared  he  should  never  be  able  to 
subdue  me.  One  rainy  day,  as  I was  playing  in  the  rain-trough, 
he  told  me  to  go  in  out  of  the  rain,  but  I looked  up  at  him 
in  a saucy,  defying  manner.  He  again  said,  ‘ Go  in,  or  I’ll  duck 
you.’  I laughed  again,  when  he  caught  me  up,  and,  stripping 
off  my  clothes,  soused  me  all  over  into  the  water.  I came  up 
panting,  but  not  quite  subdued.  A moment  was  given  me  to 
take  breath,  and  I was  immersed  again,  and  came  up  the  second 
time  subdued  and  pleading  for  mercy,  and  promising  always  to 
mind.  ‘ Oh,  but  you  have  been  a very  naughty  boy ; you  don’t 
pretend  to  mind  me,  and  I intend  to  keep  ducking  you  till  you 
always  do  just  as  I tell  you,’  said  my  father,  and  repeated  the  im- 
mersion. This  so  thoroughly  subdued  me,  and  I promised  so  faith- 
fully to  do  everything  I was  told  to  do,  that  I was  let  off,  and  always 
afterward  remained  the  most  faithful  and  obedient  child  in  the 
family.” 

Dr.  Taylor,  on  my  brother’s  recommendation,  conquered 
a very  wayward,  wilful  daughter,  about  five  years  old,  by 
similar  means.  He  had  used  the  rod,  and  tried  coaxing,  but 
all  to  no  purpose.  Nothing  he  could  do  had  yet  subdued  her. 
She  would  break  out  into  most  violent  fits  of  anger,  throw 
herself  on  the  floor,  beat  her  head  against  it,  strike,  kick,  and 
exhibit  the  utmost  fury.  He  heard  my  brother’s  lecture  on 
the  training  and  government  of  children,,*  in  which  he  advo- 
cates the  use  of  the  cold  water  shower-bath  as  an  effectual 
means  of  subduing  ungovernable  children,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing, on  his  daughter  having  one  of  her  mad  fits,  he  poured  a 
pitcher  of  water  on  her  head.  Still  she  remained  incorrigible. 
He  tried  another ; she  still  held  out.  He  tried  the  third,  and 
the  fourth,  till  at  last  she  submitted,  which  he  had  never  be- 
fore been  able  to  make  her  do.  After  that,  she  yielded  to  this 
treatment  more  readily.  It  produces  its  effect,  first,  by  the 

* I have  long  tried,  but  thus  far  in  vair,  to  persuade  my  brother  to 
give  this  lecture  to  the  public  in  a printed  fc  rm,  but  he  steadily  declines, 
from  want  of  time  properly  to  prepare  it.  I have  seen  nothing  on  this 
subject  at  all  to  compare  with  it.  Its  facts  and  illustrative  anecdotes  are 
most  excellent.  A few  of  them  will  be  introduced  into  this  work,  but 
not  without  credit.  It  will  make  an  excellent  help-meet  for  this  book 
The  two  should  be  amalgamated. 


WATER  AS  A PUNISHMENT. 


181 


sudden  shock  it  gives  the  whole  system,  especially  when 
poured  on  the  top  of  the  head,  where  the  great  pole  or 
centre  of  sensation  is  located  151,  and  secondly,  by  its  gen- 
eral cooling  effect  on  the  system,  and  thereby  on  the  pro- 
pensities. 

My  brother,  in  defining  these  views,  very  justly  remarks 
that  cold  water  is  certainly  cooling ; that  men  never  fight  in 
the  rain ; that  in  cases  of  mobs,  if,  instead  of  getting  out  the 
militia  and  firing  guns,  the  fire-engines  should  throw  water, 
the  mobites  would  soon  scamper  for  shelter,  and  disperse,  be- 
cause, as  soon  as  they  get  thoroughly  drenched,  they  will  be 
glad  to  crawl  out,  like  drowning  rats,  and  go  home  to  change 
and  warm. 

These  views,  however,  are  liable  to  one  serious  objection. 
These  volumes  have  proved  the  law,  in  several  varied  forms 
of  application,  that  whatever  is  painful  is  injurious6,  and 
whatever  is  beneficial  is  agreeable  33  159  208.  This  law  is  espe- 
cially applicable  to  the  external  application  of  water.  That 
application  which  is  painful  is  therefore  injurious,  but  if  it  is 
not  painful  it  is  no  punishment.  Yet  no  punishment  which  in- 
jures the  health  should  ever  be  adopted.  In  fact  this  law 
applies  equally  to  all  forms  and  degrees  of  chastisement,  but 
of  this  whole  punitive  subject  hereafter.  Yet,  in  case  this 
punishment  is  inflicted,  great  care  should  be  taken  to  change 
the  dress,  and  rub  off  dry  so  as  to  prevent  colds.  To  punish 
by  means  of  the  bath  may  do,  yet  is  liable  to  make  them 
dislike  it,  whereas  they  should,  if  possible,  be  made  to  love 
it. 


9.  ACQUISITIVENESS. 


“A  penny  saved  is  worth  two  pence  earned.” 

248.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  LARGE  AND  SMALL. 

Economy  ; frugality  ; the  acquiring,  saving,  and  hoard- 
ing instinct ; taking  care  of  the  surplus,  so  that  nothing  shall 
go  to  waste  : thrift  ; xlesire  to  possess  and  own;  the  feeling 
1 0 


182 


ACQUISITIVENESS. 


of  mine  and  thine,  or  of  rightful  claim  and  possession ; love 
of  trading  and  amassing  property. 

Located  about  an  inch  above  Alimentiveness.  It  widens 
the  head  back  of  the  temples,  or  as  you  pass  from  the  eye- 
brows backward  to  the  top  of  the  ears.  It  is  very  large  in 
the  accompanying  engraving  of  Teller,  a thief,  robber,  and 
counterfeiter,  who  was  executed  at  Hartford  for  killing  his 
jailor,  (see  Am.  Phren.  Jour.  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.  223  and  368,) 
but  small  in  Gosse,  who  gave  away  two  fortunes  without  judg- 
ment to  whoever  solicited  alms,  and  on  inheriting  a third,  had 
a guardian  appointed  over  him  to  prevent  his  giving  it  also 
away,  though  unusually  strong-minded  in  other  respects. 


ACQUISITIVENESS  LARGE. 


No.  10.  Teller. 


SMALL. 


Large  Acquisitiveness  saves  for  future  use  whatever  is  of 
any  value ; is  pained  by  the  waste  or  destruction  of  anything 
which  can  be  turned  to  a good  account ; loves  to  lay  up  the 
means  of  procuring  subsequent  comforts  and  luxuries ; desires 


ECONOMY  NATURE  .3  MOTTO. 


183 


to  acquire  and  possess  property ; and  is  industrious  and 
frugal. 

Small  Acquisitiveness  allows  many  things  to  go  to  waste ; 
lives  in  the  present,  and  spends  as  it  goes,  instead  of  laying  up 
for  a rainy  day ; may  make  money  as  a means,  yet  cares 
little  for  it  as  an  end,  or  merely  to  lay  up. 

249.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Economy  is  nature’s  universal  motto.  Waste  she  perfectly 
abhors,  and  never  permits.  What  she  cannot  use  to  the  best 
advantage  at  one  time  she  lays  by  in  store  till  she  can  thus 
use  it.  Even  the  very  mountains  and  bowels  of  the  earth  are 
deposits  for  the  materials  of  re-fertilizing  the  earth  throughout 
illimitable  ages  ! 201  But  for  these  store-houses  her  soil  would 
become  barren  ; now  it  is  destined  to  become  richer  and  deeper 
as  time  rolls  on  forever.  And,  by  a most  beautiful  provision, 
she  prevents  the  decay  of  whatever  is  buried  deep,  yet  com- 
pels, by  the  destroying  action  of  the  atmosphere,  that  of  what- 
ever is  near  her  surface.  Behold  this  double  contrivance  for 
perpetually  re-enriching  the  earth,  yet  preserving  for  use  mil- 
lions of  ages  hence  what  is  not  wanted  sooner. 

Nor  is  anything  lost  which  decays,  but  its  very  resolution 
back  to  dust,  only  re-fertilizes  the  earth,  so  that  the  very  ma- 
terials which  composed  the  decayed  body  re-enter  into  the 
formation  of  other  and  still  other  species  of  organic  life.  In 
harmony  with  this  law,  ofFal  vegetation  returns  to  its  mother 
earth,  to  be  again  re-constructed  into  vegetable  organisms  ; and 
even  that  which  is  consumed  by  animals,  so  far  from  being 
destroyed,  is  thereby  converted  into  fertilizing  materials  for  re- 
nourishing the  soil  which  gave  it  life.  The  dead  tree  of  the 
deep  forest  is  not  wasted,  but  from  its  mouldering  remains 
spring  other  trees,  and  from  these  others  again,  each  of  which 
re.enrich  the  earth,  till  man  employs  this  accumulated  fertilty 
in  the  production  of  human  sustenance  and  mentality.  How 
beautiful  this  provision,  how  glorious  the  result ! 

But  even  after  it  has  been  converted  into  flesh  and  blood, 
it  is  not  cast  aside  as  useless,  but  as  the  body  “ returns  again 
to  dust,”  by  a law  of  nature  as  wise  as  unalterably  it  becomes 


184 


ACQUISITIVENESS. 


food  for  other  sentient  beings  237,  and  the  carcasses  of  these  for 
others  still,  “ from  everlasting  to  everlasting.”  And  recent 
philosophical  experiments  have  rendered  it  altogether  probable 
than  animalcules  inhabit  not  only  all  parts  of  man  and  ani- 
mals, but  also  all  parts  of  organized  bodies,  throng  air  and 
water  in  countless  myriads,  and  fill  every  portion  of  illimitable 
space  ! Look  steadily  through  an  open  window,  especially  at 
the  snow,  and  you  can  see  the  shades  made  by  these  animalcules 
in  perpetual  motion,  within  the  aqueous  hnmors  of  the  eyes, 
flitting  before  the  vision,  evincing  that  the  very  eye  itself  is 
thronged  with  sentient  beings. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  instances  of  this  economical 
principle  of  nature  is  found  in  the  principle,  stated  in  “ Physi- 
ology?” that  animals  imbibe  oxygen  from  the  atmosphere86, 
and  return  carbonic  acid  to  it93,  and  that  vegetables  imbibe 
carbon  and  give  off  oxygen ; so  that  the  more  animal  life 
there  is,  the  greater  the  supply  of  the  chief  ingredient  of  vege- 
table life ; and  the  greater  the  growth  of  vegetable,  the  more 
oxygen — the  most  essential  element  of  animal  life — is  there- 
fore evolved — a principle  the  action  and  re-action  of  which 
will  render  vegetables  more  and  more  prolific  in  proportion 
as  animals  become  multiplied  202  203 — an  end  which  the  ever  re- 
increasing fertility  of  the  earth 201  helps  to  attain.  Thus  it  is  that 
this  very  increase  of  animal  life  which  requires  an  increased 
amount  of  vegetables  supplies  them  in  proportion  to  the  demand. 

Nor  is  it  by  any  means  certain  that  this  self-acting  law  of 
husbanding  everything  till  it  is  wanted,  and  “ making  one 
hand  wash  the  other,”  does  not  extend  to  universal  matter. 
That  gigantic  motive  power  which  hurls  the  earth  and  the 
entire  universe  of  planets  around  their  respective  cycles, 
“ from  eternity  to  eternity,”  is  doubtless  generated  by  a kin- 
dred self-acting  principle.  Thus  it  is  that  universal  nature  is 
as  economical  as  prolific,  and  as  saving  of  her  means  as 
bountiful  in  her  products ! 

Shall  we  not,  then,  imitate  her  ever  present  examples  ? 
Shall  we  be  prodigal  while  she  is  thus  frugal  ? Shall  we 
waste  by  inattention  oV  “ in  riotous  living”  what  nothing  but 
the  most  rigid  economy  on  her  part  could  have  provided? 


DUTY  OF  FRUGALITY. 


185 


Extravagance  is  a sin.  That  admirable  parable  of  the  prodi- 
gal son  was  undoubtedly  designed  to  illustrate,  secondarily, 
the  “ woful  want”  consequent  on  “ wilful  waste.”  Economy  is 
a virtue  even  in  the  rich.  Since  the  Deity  steadily  pursues 
this  husbanding  principle  throughout  all  his  works,  shall  not 
also  those  who  abound  in  this  world’s  goods  ? If  the  rich  do 
not  require  to  save  on  their  own  account,  let  them  bestow  on 
the  poor  the  avails  of  their  frugality.  How  many  poor,  mis- 
serable  human  beings,  who  are  now  dying  of  want,  would  be 
rendered  inexpressibly  happy  by  the  “ crumbs  which  fall  from 
rich  men’s  tables  !”  How  many  fortunes  are  squandered  by 
the  affluent  on  trifling  gratifications  which  do  no  one  any  good, 
and  especially  on  those  vices  which  injure  all  concerned  ; 
whereas  the  same  means  bestowed  on  the  poor,  would  make 
millions  of  wretched  beings  leap  for  joy ! And  let  us  all 
“ gather  up  the  fragments  that  nothing  be  lost,”  and  spend 
nothing  except  to  the  best  advantage. 

We  especially  require  to  husband  food.  This  the  juxta- 
location  of  Appetite  and  Acquisitates  facilitates,  and  the  nature 
of  things  imperiously  demands.  Man  requires  to  store  up 
sufficient  of  the  bounties  of  the  earth  in  harvest  time  to  last 
till  this  period  returns.  To  waste  anything  which  is  capable 
of  sustaining  animal  or  human  life  is  wicked.  Man  also  re- 
quires to  keep  on  hand  a supply  of  clothes,  tools,  houses,  innu- 
merable means  of  comfort,  and  commodities  of  all  kinds,  against 
a time  of  need.  Exchanges  of  property  can  also  be  rendered 
most  beneficial  to  both  buyer  and  seller,  as  also  the  interchange 
of  various  products  of  different  nations  and  climes.  To  this 
requisition  for  property  and  traffic,  this  faculty  is  adapted,  and 
adapts  man.  But  for  this  or  a kindred  instinct,  though  he 
might  feast  on  the  stalled  ox — yet  without  tms  element  he 
would  not  have  stalled  it — till  its  flesh  spontaneously  decayed, 
still  he  would  not  preserve  any  of  it  for  future  use ; and 
though  he  might  have  picked  the  golden  bounties  of  summer 
and  autumn  to  satisfy  present  hunger — still,  without  this  faculty, 
he  would  not  have  planted  or  sowed — yet  he  would  never  lay 
up  in  harvest  his  winter’s  supply  of  edibles,  and  therefore  have 
inevitably  starved.  In  short,  without  this  saving  element,  we 


186 


ACQUISITIVENESS. 


should  waste  whatever  was  not  wanted  for  present  use,  nor 
make  any  provision  for  the  future.  This  faculty  also  restrains 
that  profuseness  and  destruction  which  the  other  faculties 
would  otherwise  occasion,  and  prevents  vice  by  securing  in- 
dustry and  economy. 

Its  proper  cultivation  and  regulation,  therefore,  become  as 
important  as  its  function  is  indispensable  to  human  happiness. 
To  promote  its  action,  exercise  it  by  saving  the  pennies,  and 
everything  useful  which  is  not  wanted  now,  against  a time  of 
need.  Spend  less,  and  for  nothing  not  really  beneficial.  Add 
daily  to  your  pecuniary  resources  by  being  industrious,  and 
then  fund  the  surplus  by  increasing  your  “ stock  in  trade,”  or 
deposit  it  in  a personal  or  public  savings’  bank.  Read  and 
practice  F ranklin’s  admirable  mottos,  many  of  which  enjoin 
that  industry  and  economy  here  urged.  Especially  save  the 
driblets.  “ Take  care  of  the  pennies,  and  the  dollars  will  take 
care  of  themselves.”  Forego  all  unnecessary  expenses,  such 
as  for  candies,  ice-creams,  beer,  alcoholic  drinks,  tobacco,  tea, 
coffee,  oyster-suppers,  and  the  like.  Practice  the  motto  that 
“ a penny  saved  is  worth  two  pence  earned.”  Use  all  proper 
means  to  acquire  property  and  gather  around  you  the  comforts 
of  life,  and  then  turn  all  your  means  to  the  best  possible  ac- 
count. More  especially,  lend  only  what  you  can  afford  to 
give  outright. 

Another  effectual  means  of  cultivating  Acquisitiveness  is 
by  trading.  The  trafficking  principle  is  clearly  engrafted 
on  the  nature  of  man.  As  each  individual  cannot  make  his 
own  clothes,  tools,  and  whatever  he  wants,  and  in  addition 
raise  his  own  food — as  manufactories  and  all  other  kinds  of 
business,  to  be  profitable,  must  be  conducted  on  a large  scale — 
of  course  trade,  or  the  supply  of  commodities  by  retail,  be- 
comes indispensable.  The  southern  planter  grows  all  cotton 
or  sugar — more  than  he  alone  wants — and  the  northerner 
raises  or  manufactures  a surplus  of  something  else,  so  that 
the  mutual  interchange  among  mankind  of  their  surplus  prod- 
ucts benefits  all  concerned.  Hence,  every  person  has  occa- 
sion to  make  exchanges  or  purchases,  and  should  know  how 
to  do  so  to  personal  advantage — the  great  end  of  all  trade. 


MAKING  PURCHASES. 


187 


Men  should  first  know  what  they  really  require,  and  nexl 
what  will  serve  their  purpose,  and  finally  how  to  get  things  at 
a fair  price.  Mr.  Green  always  pays  double  for  everything, 
while  Mr.  Sharp  pays  no  more  for  the  same  articles  than  they 
are  actually  worth,  and  consequently  grows  rich  on  saved 
profits,  while  Mr.  G.,  with  all  his  industry  and  economy,  con- 
tinues poor.  Let  every  one  learn  to  make  good  purchases. 
Never  cheat,  but  take  care  not  to  be  over-reached.  Keep 
your  eye-teeth  cut.  If  you  feel  above  stopping  to  barter  and 
beat  down,  say  nothing,  but  go  elsewhere.  Yet  never  be 
thus  close  to  the  poor,  nor  grind  them  on  account  of  their  ne- 
cessities. Gi\»e  them  good  profits,  and  whenever  practicable, 
if  only  as  a delicate  mode  of  helping  them,  buy  of  them  in 
preference  to  the  rich. 

The  attention  of  the  poor,  indeed  of  all,  is  especially  invited 
to  procuring  by  the  quantity,  instead  of  in  driblets.  To  buy 
flour  by  the  seven  pounds,  sugar  by  the  single  pound,  molas- 
ses by  the  quart,  oil  by  the  pint,  and  the  like,  is  the  most 
extravagant  as  well  as  unwise  of  all  modes  of  living.  In  this 
way  it  is  that  retailers  fatten  on  the  hard  earnings  of  their 
customers.  Instead  of  laying  out  your  week’s  wages  or  your 
money  in  these  driblets,  get  a barrel  of  flour  and  the  rest  in 
molasses,  and  go  without  other  things  till  another  week’s 
wages  can  be  spent  in  some  other  article,  and  thus  a third 
more  be  procured  with  them.  If  you  must  have  meat,  lay  in 
your  year’s  supply  in  killing  time,  unless  you  can  fatten  it 
yourself ; purchase  muslins,  calicoes,  etc.,  by  the  piece,  thread 
by  the  pound,  and  thus  of  everything  you  buy,  instead  of  run- 
ning daily  to  the  store  for  a penny’s  worth  of  one  thing  and  a 
quarter’s  worth  of  another. 

“ Indeed  I would,  if  I could  only  afford  it,”  say  thousands, 
“but  I cannot  get  enough  ahead  for  that.”  Your  poverty  is 
the  very  reason  why  you  cannot  afford  to  buy  in  this  small 
way.  Cut  off  all  dispensables,  get  one  or  two  things  by  the 
quantity,  and  content  yourself  with  them,  till  you  can  get 
other  things  in  the  same  way.  Live  on  boiled  wheat  a week 
or  a month,  till  you  can  lay  up  enough  to  pursue  this  course. 
Till  you  thus  take  advantage  of  the  market,  you  must  always 


188 


ACQUISITIVENESS. 


expect  to  be  poor.  And  in  general  buy  direct  from  the  pro 
ducer  as  often  as  possible  ; because  the  more  hands  an  article 
goes  through,  the  greater  the  profit  required  to  satisfy  each 
trader.  We  have  too  many  retailers;  they  generally  more 
than  double  on  the  first  cost  of  all  that  is  consumed.  Yet  this 
is  not  the  place  for  a dissertation  on  political  economy,  although 
its  principles,  as  developed  by  Phrenology,  are  inimitably 
beautiful. 

To  cultivate  it  in  children,  get  them  a “ savings’  bank,”  and 
encourage  their  dropping  their  pennies  and  shillings  into  it, 
instead  of  spending  them  for  cakes  and  candies,  and  give  them 
money  for  this  purpose.  After  they  have  husbanded  a suf- 
ficient sum,  induce  them  to  buy  something  to  keep,  or  some 
kind  of  property  which  will  bring  them  in  something,  or  else 
to  put  their  money  out  at  interest,  and  encourage  them  to  lay 
up  for  the  future.  When  they  have  everything  that  heart 
can  wish  furnished  at  their  hands,  they  have  no  occasion  to 
cultivate  the  laying-up  faculty,  and  hence  this  organ  becomes 
small,  and  this  results  in  their  spending  the  property  left  them. 
A youth  is  richer  without  a cent,  but  with  industrious  and 
economical  habits,  than  with  thousands  in  pocket  but  without 
economy.  Do  not  leave  children  wealthy,  unless  you  wish 
to  curse  and  ruin  them.  The  correctness  of  this  advice  is 
enforced  by  the  sad  experience  of  nearly  all  left  wealthy. 
No  man  shall  settle  a fortune  upon  either  of  my  children,  and 
if  I were  worth  millions,  I should  require  them  to  earn  their 
own  property,  and  simply  help  them  to  the  means  of  helping 
themselves.  Money  given  to  children  is  never  prized.  They 
know  nothing  of  its  worth,  unless  they  themselves  have  ac- 
quired it,  but  they  set  great  value  on  what  their  own  efforts 
have  procured.  Give  them  a chance  to  make  their  own 
pocket  money,  and  you  will  prevent  prodigality  and  secure 
industry.  Let  the  farmer  give  his  sons  ground,  and  time  to 
cultivate  it.  With  a part  of  the  products  let  them  buy  stock, 
and  feed  it  on  the  rest,  and  so  go  on  to  augment  their  little 
property  till  they  are  old  enough  to  set  up  business  for  them- 
selves. Let  merchants  and  tradesmen  pursue  a similar 
course.  Youth  should  have  a chance  to  earn  money,  and 


ITS  CULTIVATION  IN  YOUTH. 


189 


then  have  the  disposal  of  all  they  make,  yet  of  little  more. 
The  prevalent  practice  of  giving  children  pennies  or  small 
change  to  spend  for  candies,  sweetmeats,  toys,  and  the  like, 
prompted  by  misguided  Philoprogenitiveness,  is  most  perni- 
cious; because  it  induces  an  insatiable  craving  after  what 
does  them  no  good,  and  also  renders  them  prodigal  of  their 
money,  and  often  leads  to  bad  habits.  Especially,  this  prodi- 
gality should  not  be  encouraged  in  connection  with  appetite. 

To  the  children  of  the  rich  this  advice  is  doubly  important, 
as  in  them  this  organ  is  generally  small,  because  not  exer- 
cised 2l3.  Hence,  they  generally  squander  the  fortunes  left 
them.  Since,  by  a law  of  things,  none  are  qualified  to  enjoy 
money  except  those  who  have  earned  it,  and  thus  learned  its 
value  practically,  even  prospective  millionaires  should  be 
obliged  to  make  money,  if  only  to  learn  how  to  spend  it.  And 
to  be  reduced  to  want  after  having  been  nursed  in  the  lap  of 
luxury  is  hard,  yet  falls  to  the  lot  of  many  children  whose 
parents,  while  alive,  gratified  their  every  fancy,  and  left  them 
independently  rich.  But  if  you  must  leave  your  children 
rich,  so  frame  your  wills  that  they  can  spend  only  the  income. 
Let  all  children  be  brought  up  to  habits  of  industry  and 
frugality,  so  that  if  they  ever  come  in  possession  of  money, 
they  may  know  how  to  “ use  it  as  not  abusing  it.”* 

And  let  them  also  learn  to  make  purchases — to  get  with 
their  money  what  will  do  them  the  most  good  in  the  long  run. 
Consult  with  and  advise  them  as  to  what  they  had  better  get, 
but  leave  them  to  their  own  choice ; and  when  they  decide, 
call  their  attention  to  the  beauties  and  defects  of  this  or  that 
article,  so  as  to  develop  their  judgment  by  way  of  choosing  the 
best ; yet  always  leave  the  ultimate  choice  to  themselves. 
And  when  they  make  foolish  purchases,  show  them  that  they 
“ have  paid  too  much  for  their  whistle.”  Few  things  are 
more  useful  than  to  know  how  to  buy  in  the  best  manner 


* Those  laws  agitated  in  many  of  the  States  for  giving  females  the  con- 
trol of  what  property  they  possessed  before  marriage,  are  most  just  and 
excellent,  and  will  save  many  a woman  from  being  reduced  to  beggaiy 
by  tne  extravagant  husband  who  married  them  only  for  their  money. 


190 


ACQUISITIVENESS. 


lence  this  lesson  should  be  early  and  practically  taught 
hem. 

250.  ITS  DUE  REGULATION  AND  RESTRAINT. 

Yet  this  faculty  is  generally  too  active,  and  requires  re- 
straint, or  at  least  right  direction,  quite  as  often  as  cultivation. 
While  Phrenology  commends  frugality  and  condemns  the 
spendthrift,  it  scorns  the  miser.  As  nature  never  lays  by  for 
the  future  what  is  really  needed  to-day,  so  we  should  never 
hoard  for  the  mere  sake  of  hoarding.  As  we  can  enjoy  only 
the  present,  we  should  spend — though  always  wisely — as  we 
go,  so  far  as  is  actually  necessary  for  present  comfort,  ex- 
cept that  we  should  never  eat  what  we  should  plant,  or  con- 
sume to-day  the  capital  stock  requisite  for  procuring  the 
means  of  enjoying  the  future.  This  living  solely  to  amass — 
this  curtailing  daily  necessities  in  order  to  accumulate  a for- 
tune on  which  to  retire,  or  to  leave  our  children  rich — is  the 
worst  form  of  robbery.  Two  illustrative  anecdotes. 

While  lecturing  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1842,  I sat  at  table 
near  an  eminent  physician,  who,  besides  being  highly  intelli- 
gent, and  appearing  to  enjoy  life  exceedingly  well,  paid  un- 
usual attention  to  his  little  daughter,  about  thirteen  years  of 
age,  as  much  as  if  she  were  the  idol  of  his  affections.  Always 
making  it  a point  to  “ draw  out”  such  men,  I started  conver- 
sation, during  which  he  related  the  following  anecdote.  His 
aunt,  on  her  dying  bed,  gave  him  this  piece  of  advice. 

“ Do  not  do  as  I have  done — put  off  enjoying  your  family  till 
you  get  rich  ; but  enjoy  it  as  you  go  along.  Take  warning 
from  me.  I have  made  myself  a perfect  slave  all  my  life  to 
get  rich,  so  that  I could  give  up  work,  and  enjoy  myself  in  the 
bosom  of  my  family.  We  got  rich,  and  thought  we  would 
retire  in  a few  years  to  enjoy  home,  but  have  kept  putting  it 
off  from  year  to  year  till  it  became  too  late ; and  here  1 am, 
bedridden  with  age  and  infirmities,  unable  to  enjoy  either  my 
family,  or  the  property  I have  labored  so  hard  to  acquire. 
When  I was  capable  of  enjoyment  I could  not  afford  to  take 
the  time ; and  after  I had  the  means,  I had  lost  my 
powers.” 


SPENDING  ON  THE  MIND. 


191 


He  said  he  profited  by  her  advice,  and  made  it  a settled  rule, 
lowever  pressing  his  business  engagements,  to  spend  a portion 
of  each  day  in  enjoying  himself  with  his  family.  Yet  his 
ideas  of  enjoyment  seemed  to  be  confined  mainly  to  domestic 
pleasures. 

In  1845,  I took  passage  on  the  North  River  steamboat  Troy 
for  New  York.  At  Newburg,  some  convention  occasioned  an 
unusual  rush  of  passengers,  and  as  dinner  is  usually  served 
immediately  after  leaving  the  Newburg  dock,  the  steward, 
taken  by  surprise,  had  not  provided  enough  for  all  who  sat 
down.  As  he  came  round  for  the  tickets,  the  man  who  was 
seated  at  my  left  complained  about  his  scant  fare.  The 
steward  apologized,  explained  the  cause — the  extra  rush  of  pas- 
sengers just  as  dinner  was  ready — said  he  would  take  care  to 
prevent  anything  of  the  kind  hereafter,  and  re-tendered  the 
dinner  fee.  The  passenger  replied  that  it  was  not  the  money 
but  the  good  dinner  he  wanted — that  half-dollars  were  plenty, 
but  that  he  could  enjoy  only  one  dinner  per  day,  and  that  one 
he  wanted  to  enjoy — adding  with  a regret  that  he  had  nearly 
lost  this  dinner,  and  could  never  again  recover  that  loss. 

The  passenger,  having  called  on  me  professionally  in  1842, 
and  had  a good  deal  of  sport  over  his  examination,  recognized 
me,  and  reiterated  the  idea,  that  this  defective  dinner  could  never 
be  made  up  to  him — that  as  dinner  came  but  once  a day,  the 
loss  or  deficiency  of  any  one  meal  was  irreparable — because, 
however  well  he  might  enjoy  all  his  other  meals,  that  one  must 
be  enjoyed  in  its  time  or  not  at  all. 

Sensualist  as  he  was,  and  thinking  only  how  he  could  en- 
joy animal  pleasures,  his  remark  furnished  a new  and  practi- 
cal illustration  of  this  cardinal  doctrine  of  enjoying  life  as  vve 
go  along.  And  so  far  from  stopping  here,  we  should  run  it 
out  in  its  various  other  applications  to  the  details  of  every-day 
life,  and  especially  should  practice  upon  it,  even  in  all  its 
details.  And  practice  at  once,  by  disposing  our  affairs,  general 
and  particular,  with  this  general  principle  for  the  basis  of  life 
— should  eat,  drink,  and  do  all  for  the  sole  purpose  of  en- 
joying the  present.  Others  may  tug  and  toil  in  order  to 
accumulate  the  means  o'  enjoying  the  future,  but  let  me  live 


192 


ACQUISITIVENESS. 


in  and  for  the  present.  Not  that  I would  make  no  provision 
for  the  future,  but  that  I would  enjoy  the  very  act  of  making 
such  provision,  as  well  as  these  provisions  after  they  are  made. 
Prodigality  has  already  been  condemned,  but  while  waste  is 
wicked,  parsimony  is  foolish.  Nature  deals  out  her  bounties 
with  a liberal,  open  hand,  not  by  stint.  The  free  use  of  what 
we  really  need  at  present,  and  the  judicious  husbanding  of  the 
Balance  for  future  use  is  the  golden  mean.  Yet  where  we 
can  do  but  one,  we  should  enjoy  the  present.  “ Sufficient 
unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.” 

These  principles  utter  their  solemn  protest  against  the 
money-grasping  spirit  of  the  age.  Almost  all  civilized  na- 
tions and  individuals  are  contemptibly  mercenary — spend- 
thrifts included.  They  act  as  though  riches  constituted  the 
highest  good  and  “ chief  end”  of  man — as  though  nothing 
else  could  yield  happiness — and  hence,  in  its  hot  pursuit, 
forego  the  enjoyments  proffered  by  most  of  their  other  faculties, 
as  well  as  induce  sickness  and  premature  death.  Like  the 
Norfolk  and  Raleigh  misers211,  they  deny  most  of  their  other 
faculties  the  means  of  procuring  gratification,  and  narrow 
down  their  “ penny  wise  but  pound  foolish”  souls  to  the  lim- 
ited range  of  the  squirrel ! Is  this  human  ? Must  even 
moral  sentiment  be  enslaved  by  love  of  filthy  lucre,  and  in- 
tellect dance  servile  attendance  on  this  rage  for  mammon  ? 
Shall  even  the  professed  followers  of  Him  who  “ had  not 
where  to  lay  his  head,”  scramble  after  earthly  treasures 
while  they  vainly  pretend  to  have  “ laid  up  their  treasures  in 
heaven  ?”  Shall  one  faculty,  and  that  an  animal  propensity, 
impudently  control  and  paralyze  the  other  thirty-six  ? Shall 
miserly  Acquisitiveness  interdict  all  the  enjoyments  proffered 
by  the  study  of  nature  and  her  laws,  and  even  chain  that 
angelic  department  of  human  nature  down  to  earth  which 
should  soar  to  heaven  ? And  shall  we,  readers,  tamely  sur- 
render soul  and  body  to  its  tyrant  sway  ? Shall  we  not  make 
it  a servant  to  our  other  faculties,  instead  of  making  them  its 
vassals?  Shall  we  not  acquire  and  regard  money  as  a 
means,  instead  of  an  end  ? We  do  not  need  our  hundreds  of 
thousands,  and  cannot  use  them  if  we  amass  them.  “ Na- 


RIGHT  DIRECTION. 


] 93 


ture’s  wants  are  few,35  and  whoever  accumulates  more  is 
foolish.  We  cannot  carry  this  world’s  goods  into  another, 
nor  would  they  be  worth  it  if  we  could,  but  must  leave  all  we 
do  not  use  behind,  to  be  grabbed  and  cheated  for  by  “ sur- 
viving heirs.33  What  a practical  comment  on  the  folly  of 
hoarding  more  than  enough  to  carry  us  safely  through  life, 
is  furnished  by  “ probate  courts  !33  Nor  can  this  evil  be 
remedied.  It  is  nature’s  punishment  of  inordinate  Acquisi- 
tiveness212 uncontrolled  by  the  higher  faculties211.  The  sole 
object  of  all  our  acquisitive  efforts  should  be  to  furnish  the 
other  faculties,  especially  the  higher,  the  means  of  securing 
their  normal  indulgence,  and  whoever  accumulates  more  must 
suffer  the  righteous  penalties  attached  to  this  violated  natural 
law 6.  Hence  the  rich  are  rarely  happy.  If  there  be  a mis- 
erable man  in  New  York,  or  one  especially  to  be  pitied,  John 
Jacob  Astor  is  this  object  of  commiseration.  How  rarely 
happiness  accompanies  wealth  ! Nature  will  not  let  it.  Envy 
not,  but  rather  pity,  those  daughters  of  luxury,  and  sons  of 
affluence,  whom  you  see  riding  in  splendid  coaches,  or  living 
in  yonder  magnificent  palaces.  They  are  as  miserable  as 
rich,  and  the  former  because  the  latter.  Nor  will  any  but 
practical  fools  follow  in  their  acquisitive  footsteps.  “ Give 
me  neither  poverty  nor  riches,”  but  “ give  me  day  by  day  my 
daily  bread and  what  surplus  time  I have  after  procuring 
the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life,  let  me  spend  in  cultivating 
my  heaven-tending  faculties — in  the  exercise  of  which  hap- 
piness mainly  consists211.  Will  you  not,  reader,  be  persuaded 
to  adopt  this  course  ? 

Yet  while  we  should  “strive  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven”  rather  than  to  amass  more  mammon  than  we  can  use 
to  good  advantage  while  alive,  still  we  require  far  more  prac- 
tical wisdom  in  spending  than  in  making  money.  Fools  often 
get  rich — of  whom  warming-pan  Dexter  was  one — or  at  least 
often  become  so ; yet  it  takes  a wise  man  to  spend  money  so 
as  to  derive  therefrom  the  greatest  amount  of  good.  Thus, 
one  man  will  so  lay  out  a few  dollars  as  to  obtain  a great 
amount  of  happiness — the  only  end  of  money  or  life 1 — there- 
from, while  another  will  squander  fortunes,  and  only  enhance 
17 


194 


ACQUISITIVENESS. 


his  sufferings  the  more  he  spends.  The  former  is  rich,  the 
latter  poor.  Never  lay  out  a cent  for  what  injures  you — that 
is,  on  any  useless  or  pernicious  habit ; and  so  spend  every  dol- 
lar as  to  derive  therefrom  more  pleasure  than  if  expended  in 
any  other  way.  And  to  do  this,  expend  more  on  your  higher 
faculties,  and  less  on  your  lower — much  on  your  mind,  and 
little  on  your  body.  And  this  is  the  great  error  of  mankind. 
They  lavish  their  means  on  their  palates,  their  vanity,  and 
their  artificial  wants,  yet  rob  intellect,  and  starve  their  souls. 
They  can  afford  to  thrust  both  hands  deep  and  often  into 
their  pockets  for  edibles,  wearables,  and  glittering  show,  but 
are  too  poor  to  pay  a do  Jar  for  intellectual  food  or  moral 
cultivation. 

In  New  Bedford,  in  1844,  a well-dressed  young  man  begged 
for  tickets  to  attend  lectures  on  Phrenology,  though  the  charge 
was  only  six  cents  per  evening.  He  was  asked  how  many 
cigars  he  smoked  per  day,  as  he  was  then  smoking.  “ Six  or 
eight,55  he  replied.  “ Stop  that  ruinous  practice,  and  you  will 
save  enough  to  attend  every  lecture,  and  bring  your  sweet- 
heart,55— for  whom  also  he  had  solicited  tickets.  Men  hardly 
know  that  they  can  afford  to  spend  anything  on  their  minds, 
but  take  it  as  established  that  nearly  all  their  time  and  earn- 
ings must  be  expended  on  their  bodies ; whereas,  the  tables 
should  be  reversed.  Since  the  pleasures  of  the  latter  far  ex- 
ceed those  of  the  former211,  if  either  must  be  stinted,  stint  the 
body.  All  should  make  it  a settled  rule  of  life  to  expend  freely 
for  books,  lectures,  information — anything  which  will  improve 
their  intellects  or  morals  ; and  if  they  have  not  enough  for 
mind  and  body  both,  take,  from  the  latter  to  bestow  upon  the 
former211. 

This  organ  is  usually  too  large  in  children,  and  hence  they 
covet  a great  variety  of  things,  and  think  all  they  desire  is 
.heirs,  just  because  they  want  them,  without  appreciating  the 
difference  between  what  belongs  to  them  and  what  to  others. 
This  difference  should  early  be  taught  them,  and  their  Acquis- 
itiveness subjected  to  their  higher  faculties211.  But  in  order  to 
restrain  it,  instead  of  snatching  things  away  from  them,  per 
euade  them  to  surrender  them  voluntarily. 


ys  RESTRAINT. 


195 


The  pictures  in  my  charts  and  almanacs  attracted  the 
attention  of  two  young  children  in  a family  to  which  I was 
then  paying  a professional  visit,  which  they  were  soiling. 
The  mother  angrily  jerked  them  away,  which  maddened 
them,  and  made  them  cry  violently.  I told  them  they  might 
have  them  provided  they  would  not  muss  them,  and  would 
return  them  when  I wanted  them  ; to  which  they  readily 
consented,  and,  at  my  request,  surrendered  them  without  a 
murmur.  Get  children  to  promise  and  they  will  fulfil. 

Especially,  never  let  them  know  that  they  are  a whit  the 
better  because  their  parents  are  rich.  Never  inculcate  that 
odious  doctrine  that  “ money  makes  the  man.” 

To  reduce  this  faculty,  be  more  liberal.  Let  the  small 
change  slide.  Remember  that  the  sole  use  of  money  is  to 
purchase  the  means  of  properly  gratifying  the  other  faculties. 
As  long  as  you  hoard  it,  it  will  do  you  no  good.  Bear  in 
mind  that  you  are  too  penurious,  that  you  bargain  too  closely, 
that  you  are  disposed  to  claim  more  than  your  own,  and  that 
you  are  too  close-fisted,  selfish,  and  greedy  after  money.  In 
other  words,  exercise  this  faculty  less,  proportionably,  and  the 
others  more. 

There  are  two,  perhaps  three,  organs  of  Acquisitiveness, 
one  for  making  money,  another  for  keeping  it.  The  former 
is  located  farthest  back  and  lowest  down,  and  within  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  of  the  ear ; while  that  which  saves,  oc- 
cupies the  fer^  part.  The  upper  portion,  also,  probably  cre- 
ates a desire  tor  copartnership.  The  money-making  part  is 
generally  large  in  American  heads,  hence  their  “ compassing 
sea  and  land  to  make  one  dollar but  their  money-keeping 
organ  is  usually  small,  hence  their  extravagance  and  waste- 
fulness. 


196 


SECRETIVENESS. 


10.  SECRETIVENESS. 

“ Think  twice  before  you  speak.’ 

251.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  LARGE,  AND  SMALL. 

Self-restraint;  policy;  management;  finesse;  reserve; 
evasion  ; disguise  of  opinions  and  purposes ; cunning  ; 
“ playing  ’possum;”  lay-low-and-keep-dark-ativeness. 

Located  over  Destructiveness  242,  or  an  inch  above  the  tops 
of  the  ears. 

Large  Secretiveness  imparts  a politic,  shrewd,  managing, 
“ humbugging”  disposition  ; employs  tact ; obtains  unsuspected 
ends  by  artful  means  ; appears  to  aim  at  one  thing  when  it  is 
in  reality  accomplishing  another ; proceeds  with  adroitness 
and  cunning ; uses  stratagem  from  love  of  it,  even  when  there 
is  no  real  occasion ; and  is  oily,  enigmatical,  mysterious, 
guarded,  foxy,  and  hard  to  be  found  out. 

Small  Secretiveness  appears  to  be  what  it  is  really  is ; 
hoists  no  false  colors ; pursues  an  open,  straightforward,  above- 


SECRETIVENESS  LARGE. 


ITS  FUNCTION  AND  LOCATION. 


197 


board  course  ; disdains  to  work  the  wires  ; expresses  its  real 
purposes  and  sentiments ; tells  others  all  about  self,  even  on  a 
slight  acquaintance ; disguises  and  conceals  nothing ; does  as 
is  agreed  ; is  truthful  in  feeling,  expressions,  and  conduct; 
speaks  its  mind  too  freely  ; and  lacks  self-p -fernment. 

SECRETIVENESS  SMALL. 


It  was  large  in  Aaron  Burr,  who  was  one  of  the  most  artfu 
and  cunning  of  men,  but  small  in  Dr.  Samuel  Thompson 
whose  open,  blunt  way  of  speaking  and  perfect  sincerity  were 
proverbial,  and  made  him  very  bitter  enemies,  as  well  as  ren- 
dered him  liable  to  be  imposed  upon.  It  was  also  enormous 
m Gotfried  248,  but  small  in  Gosse  248. 

17 


198 


SECRETIVENESS. 


252.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Self-government  is  one  of  the  mos  important  pre-requi- 
sites of  virtue  and  preventives  of  vice.  To  guard  the  prema- 
ture expression  of  our  feelings  and  exposition  of  our  plans  in- 
calculably facilitates  success  and  happiness.  Those  who  let  all 
their  feelings  burst  out  as  they  come  up,  often  say  and  do 
what  occasions  subsequent  regret,  make  unnecessary  enemies, 
and  lose  friends ; while  those  who  divulge  all  their  plans,  are 
often  anticipated  or  prevented  in  their  accomplishment.  Pol- 
icy may  also  lawfully  be  employed,  provided  the  cause  be 
good.  Paul  says,  “ I caught  you  with  guile. ” A due  degree 
of  management  is  even  indispensable  to  success.  To  this  de- 
mand for  tact,  and  the  restraint  of  our  feelings,  Secretiveness 
is  adapted,  and  adapts  mankind. 

Man,  as  well  as  brute,  also  requires  protection.  Combat- 
iveness wards  off  threatening  danger  by  fearlessly  meeting 
and  boldly  defying  it ; and  Cautiousness  by  foreseeing  evil 
and  fleeing  therefrom ; while  Secretiveness  burrows  under 
ground,  employs  stratagem,  works  behind  the  curtain,  and  sup- 
presses the  real  character  and  purposes  under  an  assumed  exte- 
rior. Who  would  willingly  disclose  all  they  feel  and  see  to  all  ? 

The  fact  deserves  mention,  that  this  organ  is  located  in  the 
centre  of  the  animal  group — the  only  faculties  which  require 
restraint.  We  never  need  to  hide  the  free  manifestation  of  Be- 
nevolence, reason,  or  any  of  the  moral  or  intellectual  faculties ; 
and  accordingly  Secretiveness  is  not  located  among  either  of 
these  groups : but  we  often  require  to  suppress  our  animal 
passions,  and  hence  the  location  of  this  faculty  in  the  very 
midst  of  just  those  organs,  and  those  alone,  whose  faculties 
require  restraint. 

To  cultivate  this  faculty,  exercise  it.  Keep  your  feelings 
to  yourself  till  you  have  decided  intellectually  that  their 
expression  is  proper.  Measure  all  your  words.  To  govern 
the  tongue  is  more  creditable,  and  often  more  difficult,  than  to 
rule  kingdoms.  Be  guarded,  wise,  politic,  reserved,  and  not 
too  communicative.  Say  less  about  your  plans,  develop  your 
opinions  less  fully,  and  be  more  equivocal  and  evasive.  Ex 


ITS  DUE  REGULATION. 


199 


press  yourself  .ess  plainly  and  positively.  Be  not  thus  blunt 
and  open,  but  tell  only  a part,  and  that  guardedly.  Lawyer- 
like,  let  others  do  most  of  the  talking,  and  commit  themselves 
if  they  will,  but  keep  yourself  to  yourself.  Observe  and 
take  lessons  from  those  who  have  it  large,  and  “go  and  do 
likewise.” 

Still,  never  practice  deception  in  any  form  or  degree.  Sub- 
ject Secretiveness  to  the  rigid  control  of  Conscientiousness. 
Lie  not,  yet  leave  others  to  find  out  as  they  best  can.  Tell 
the  truth  as  far  as  you  say  anything,  yet  you  are  not  obliged 
to  tell  the  whole  truth.  Employ  policy,  not  in  deceiving 
others,  but  simply  in  protecting  yourself — in  withholding, 
but  never  in  misstating.  Never  falsify  in  word  or  act,  yet 
“the  truth  is  not  to  be  spoken  at  all  times.” 

To  cultivate  this  faculty  in  children,  show  them  how  much 
more  they  could  have  gained  by  governing  their  feelings, 
and  waiting  the  most  favorable  opportunity  for  saying  and 
doing  things.  Let  them  play  “ hide  and  seek,”  and  those 
other  amusements  which  innocently  gratify  this  faculty.  In 
short,  employ  those  various  expedients  which  are  perpetually 
proffered  for  calling  it  into  exercise  ; yet  let  it  be  scrupulously 
governed  by  the  moral  faculties 211. 

253.  ITS  RESTRAINT  AND  DUE  REGULATION. 

Yet  in  general  this  faculty  is  either  too  active  or  else  per- 
verted. Our  world  is  full  of  deception.  False  appearances 
constitute  the  order  of  the  day.  What  is  fashionable  life  but 
one  perpetual  round  of  practical  falsehood  ? In  what  does 
modern  politeness  consist  more  than  in  practically  telling 
white  and  black  lies,  and  by  all  parties  pretending  to  be  what 
they  are  not  ? 

So  in  the  business  world.  “ The  tricks  of  trade”  consti- 
tute the  “ first  lessons”  of  novices,  and  they  are  green  who 
suppose  merchants  mean  half  they  say.  Lawyers  live  mainly 
by  deception.  But  why  particularize  ? 

Especially,  why  deceive  our  fellow-men  ? If  to  appear  to 
be  thus  and  so  be  desirable,  how  much  more  to  be  what  we 
would  have  the  name  of  being.  Deception  is  weak  and  wick- 


200 


SECRETIVENESS. 


ed.  How  mean  discovery  makes  the  mantled  hypocrite  feel ! 
And  false  pretences  are  generally  seen  through.  The  asses* 
ears  will  stick  out  from  under  the  lion’s  skin.  Like  the  bird 
which,  pursued,  sticks  its  head  in  the  sand,  many  think  their 
deceptions  unfathomable,  whereas  others  ridicule  their  shal- 
low trickery.  Never  pretend  to  be  what  you  are  not,  yet 
you  may  sometimes  not  appear  to  be  all  that  you  are  252.  Sin- 
cerity is  policy.  It  has  a directness  and  truthfulness  which 
appeals  powerfully  to  those  around,  and  carries  more  sway 
than  all  the  court  diplomacy  of  a Talleyrand.  A speaker  who 
comes  out  boldly  with  his  real  sentiments  makes  a much 
deeper  impression  than  all  the  guardedness  and  polish  in  the 
world  could  effect.  Even  amiableness,  when  coupled  with 
extreme  reserve,  looses  half  its  charms,  and  the  better  we  are 
the  more  open  and  sincere  we  may  be.  Only  propensity 
requires  restraint  from  Secretiveness  252,  so  that  false  preten- 
sions, and  even  reserve,  imply  that  we  are  what  it  is  not  proper 
for  -us  to  appear  to  be. 

To  diminish  this  faculty,  unbosom  your  mind  more  freely. 
Be  less  equivocal.  Do  things  more  openly.  Take  less  pains 
to  disguise  your  opinions  and  plans,  and  do  above-board  what 
you  do  at  all.  Do  nothing  which  you  are  ashamed  should  be 
known,  and  be  less  guarded  and  artful.  Sail  under  true 
colors  and  practice  sincerity. 

The  due  regulation  of  this  faculty  in  children  is  especially 
important.  How  many  parents  weep  over  this  falsifying  pro- 
pensity in  their  children,  and  punish  therefor  without  avail  ? 
Why  this  ? To  lie  is  not  natural.  On  the  contrary,  man 
instinctively  confides  in  his  fellow-man,  even  in  spite  of  oft- 
repeated  deceptions.  So  strong  is  this  confiding  principle  in 
youth,  that  it  must  be  the  product  of  some  undiscovered  organ— 
probably  in  the  moral  group.  Hence  they  naturally  take 
their  parents  and  others  at  their  word.  The  sentiment  of 
truth  grows  spontaneously  in  the  soil  of  the  human  soul ; and 
confidence  in  the  declaration  of  others  is  one  of  its  blessed 
fruits.  As  the  law  regards  every  man  as  honest  until  he  is 
found  to  be  a rascal,  soman  intuitively  regards  his  fellow-men 
as  sincere,  till  experience  proves  them  to  be  rogues,  and  even 


ITS  DUE  REGULATION. 


201 


then  trusts  on  still.  I envy  not  those  who  pride  themselves  on 
being  suspicious  and  always  on  the  alert.  It  is  hard  to  be 
deceived,  but  more  sorrowful  and  desolate  is  .ae  who  distrusts 
all  around  him.  This  suspicion  should  not  be  implanted  in 
the  minds  of  the  young,  at  least  by  deceiving  them.  Proverb 
says  truly  “ that  children  and  fools  always  speak  the  truth.” 
Youth  will  never  falsify  till  they  learn  to  do  so  from  pre- 
cept or  example.  Parents  do  not  properly  guard  themselves 
here,  but  teach  them  more  practical  lessons  in  lying  than  they 
suppose.  They  often  threaten,  “ If  you  do  that  again  I’ll  whip 
you,”  yet  when  the  offence  is  repeated,  fail  to  administer  the 
promised  chastisement.  This  so  weakens  the  child’s  confi- 
dence in  the  integrity  of  its  parents  that  it  disregards  subse- 
quent threats,  and  compels  the  former  to  despise  the  latter  as  a 
liar.  While  standing  on  a wharf  in  New  York,  a little  girl 
stepped  several  times  to  its  edge  to  witness  the  rushing  of  the 
waters  between  it  and  a ship.  Two  or  three  times  her  father 
commanded  her  not  to  go  there  again,  and  at  last  threatened 
that  if  she  did  he  would  throw  her  into  the  river.  I asked 
her,  in  his  hearing,  if  she  really  thought  her  father  would 
throw  her  into  the  river  in  case  she  went  there  again.  She 
hung  her  head,  but  said  nothing ; for  she  knew  that  he  would 
not  fulfil  so  murderous  a threat — in  other  words  that  he  had 
lied  to  her.  Make  few  promises,  few  threatenings,  to  children, 
and  scrupulously  fulfil  them  all. 

L.  N.  Fowler  illustrates  this  point  by  the  following  excel- 
lent anecdote : A very  pious  mother  in  Tennessee  caught  her 
son  in  some  petty  falsehood,  for  which  she  chastised  him,  tell- 
ing him  what  an  awfully  wicked  thing  it  was  to  lie,  and  to 
what  a dreadful  place  liars  would  go  hereafter.  As  he  left 
her,  he  said  behind  her  back,  “ Well,  she’ll  go  there  too,  for 
she  told  me  a lie  yesterday.”  What  effect  can  the  admo- 
nitions of  parents  about  speaking  the  truth  have  on  those 
children  who  see  their  instructors  falsify  ? Parents  and  teach- 
ers cannot  be  too  careful  not  to  deviate  one  iota  from  the  naked 
truth.  ; 

Parents,  especially  mothers,  sometimes  tell  polite  false- 
hoods. “ Oh;  how  do  you  do,  Miss  Fashionable  ? How  glad 


202 


CAUTIOUSNESS. 


I am  to  see  you ! Why  have  you  not  called  before  ? Oh, 
don’t  be  in  a hurry.  Now  don’t  go  yet.  Do  call  again,” 
etc.  But  no  sooner  is  company  gone  than,  in  the  presence 
of  her  children,  she  says,  “ That  old  thing  is  really  hate- 
ful— I never  could  endure  her,  and  don’t  see  what  she  calls 
so  often  for,  and  stays  so  long.  I’m  sure  I never  want  to  see 
her  again.”  Children  hear  both  her  pleasantness  and  com- 
pliments to  her  face,  and  her  backbiting,  and  learn  to  make 
pretences  and  practice  deceit.  How  often  is  truth  sacrificed 
at  the  shrine  of  fashion,  and  the  moral  feelings  of  youth, 
and  all  who  hear,  lowered  down.  Never  invite  persons  to 
visit  you  unless  you  really  desire  to  see  them.  Be  honest, 
not  only  because  “ honesty  is  the  best  policy,”  but  especially 
to  make  your  children  so ; for  truth  is  more  valuable  than 
rubies,  and  should  be  held  inviolate. 

Never  distrust  or  mistrust  children  or  servants.  Deal  with 
them  as  though  you  thought  them  honest.  Take  them  at 
their  word.  Never  let  them  know  that  you  think  they  can 
lie,  till  the  proof  is  too  positive  to  be  denied,  and  then  rather 
exhort  and  encourage  them  to  do  better  than  disgrace  them. 
The  reason  of  this  will  be  seen  under  Approbativeness. 


11.  CAUTIOUSNESS. 

“ Look  before  you  leap.”  “ Discretion  is  the  better  part  of  valor.” 

254.  DEFINITION,  FUNCTION,  AND  LOCATION. 

Watchfulness;  prudence;  carefulness;  precaution  ; 
solicitude  ; provision  against  want,  danger,  and  a rainy  day  ; 
fleeing  from  prospective  evils ; apprehension  ; fear  ; irres- 
olution ; PROCRASTINATION  ; SUSPENSE. 

Large  Cautiousness,  like  ihe  watch-crow,  is  always  on  the 
look-out ; takes  ample  time  to  get  ready ; shuns  prospective 
dangers ; makes  everything  safe ; guards  against  losses  and 
evils ; incurs  no  risks ; or  meets  with  few  accidents  or  losses. 

Small  Cautiousness  is  heedless,  careless,  thoughtless,  and 
therefore  perpetually  in  hot  water ; fears  nothing ; disregards 


ITS  FUNCTION  AND  LOCATION. 


203 


consequences ; is  imprudent,  and  hence  unlucky  ; plans  im- 
perfectly ; acts  impromptu  ; and  is  liable  to  be  reckless.  To 
find  it,  draw  a perpendicular  line  from  the  back  part  of  the  ear 
up  to  where  the  head  begins  to  round  off  to  form  the  top ; and 
the  wider  the  head  at  this  point  the  larger  this  organ.  It  is 
small  in  the  accompanying  head  of  Vendovi,  the  Feejee  chief, 
who  was  decoyed  on  board,  and  brought  to  this  country  by 
the  exploring  expedition,  but  died  soon  after  his  arrival.  It 
is  large  in  that  of  Diana  Waters. 


255.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

All  nature  is  as  careful  as  economical  24°.  Her  prvoisions 
against  accidents,  how  numerous,  how  wise  ! Though  every- 
thing has  its  destroyer,  yet  everything  has  also  its  means  of 
self-protection.  Man,  too,  is  placed  in  a world  full  of  dangers. 
Every  step  of  his  journey  through  life  is  beset  with  evils,  so 


204 


CAUTIOUSNESS. 


numerous,  so  appalling,  as  to  threaten  pain  and  death  contin- 
ually. Yet  many  of  these  impending  dangers  can  be  avoid- 
ed ; and,  considering  our  liabilities  to  accidents,  how  few 
actually  occur ! If  God  had  enveloped  us  in  a danger-proof 
shield,  which  no  evil  could  penetrate,  this  caring  instinct 
would  have  been  useless,  and  even  injurious,  by  raising  false 
alarms,  and  occasioning  suspense;  yet,  destitute  of  both  this 
shield  and  faculty,  these  dangers  would  soon  blast  all  our 
pleasures,  and  destroy  life  itself.  Man  requires  protection,  yet, 
as  this  evil-excluding  envelope  must  have  prevented  some  good, 
he  is  endowed  with  this  watching  instinct,  which  wards  off 
most  impending  evils,  intercepts  no  good,  and  even  yields  a 
great  amount  of  happiness  in  providing  against  prospective 
accidents,  making  all  safe,  and  taking  care  of  everything. 

Its  vigilant  action,  therefore,  becomes  as  essential  as  the 
evils  it  is  adapted  to  avert  are  numerous  and  dreadful.  Those 
in  whom  it  is  weak  should  remember  that  they  are  too  care- 
less, and  that  their  thoughtlessness  is  the  principal  cause  of 
their  misfortunes,  most  of  which  carefulness  would  obviate. 
Such  should  put  themselves  upon  their  guard,  and  always 
keep  out  a windward  eye ; should  dwell  on  the  dangers  they 
have  escaped  ; should  often  imagine  the  consequences  in  case 
this  and  that  evil,  which  they  barely  escaped,  had  befallen 
them— they  had  broken  this  limb  and  lost  that  good,  etc. — 
and,  by  a variety  of  means,  rouse  it  to  increased  action. 
Especially  let  such  guard  amply  against  unforeseen  catas- 
trophes, and  practice  the  motto,  “ Sure  bind  sure  find.”  And 
let  all  be  wise,  judicious,  and  provident. 

Children,  too,  in  whom  it  is  small,  should  be  shown  that 
their  carelessness  occasioned  this  loss  and  that  misfortune ; 
that  they  must  “ look  out  next  time,”  and  have  their  atten- 
tion often  directed  to  the  evils  brought  upon  themselves  and 
others  by  their  imprudences.  Even  frightening  them  may 
be  beneficial. 

Especially,  never  put  careless  boys  to  any  dangerous  trade 
or  occupation.  In  1835,  I examined  in  North  Third-street, 
Philadelphia,  the  head  of  a lad  in  whom  this  organ  was  small, 
and  enjoined  its  cultivation  on  both  father  and  son.  On  leav 


GROUNDLESS  FE.JlKS. 


205 


ing,  I re-urged  upon  the  father  the  danger  perpetually  pend- 
ing over  his  careless  son,  and  told  him  to  put  him  in  a safe 
business.  Phrenology  was  not  then  believed,  my  advice  was 
not  heeded,  and  this  boy  was  put  to  the  tin  roofing  business, 
and  in  1836,  while  roofing  a house,  instead  of  going  down 
the  ladder  generally  used,  nothing  would  do  but  he  must  walk 
around  a block  of  unfinished  brick  buildings,  in  doing  which 
he  fell,  and  was  taken  up  dead  ! Dr.  Noble,  who  heard  my 
warning,  narrated  the  fatal  issue  of  disregarding  it. 

256.  ITS  RESTRAINT  AND  DUE  REGULATION. 

Yet  this  faculty  is  often  too  active,  or  at  least  frightened 
without  cause,  and  requires  right  direction,  if  not  restraint. 
Many  fear  evils  purely  imaginary ; apprehend  danger  where 
there  is  none ; regard  trifling  obstacles  as  insurmountable ; 
procrastinate  till  they  let  slip  many  an  excellent  opportunity ; 
and  suffer  as  excessively  as  needlessly  from  false  alarms. 
How  can  such  conquer  their  fears,  and  substitute  promptness 
for  irresolution  ? By  offsetting  this  faculty  by  Combativeness, 
judgment,  decision,  hope,  and  other  faculties,  and  by  exercis- 
ing it  less.  Let  such  decide  promptly,  and  then  drive  their 
projects,  hit  or  miss  ; because  they  will  be  too  careful,  even 
though  they  try  to  be  reckless.  They  should  bear  constantly 
in  mind  that  their  fears  are  excessive  and  usually  groundless  ; 
that  this  organ,  being  too  large,  excites  more  solicitude,  doubt, 
irresolution,  and  procrastination  than  is  reasonable  or  best ; 
that,  therefore,  they  always  overrate  difficulties,  magnify 
dangers,  and  even  make  them  up  out  of  whole  cloth ; are 
therefore  anxious  without  cause,  and  fearful  where  there  is 
no  danger.  Impress  this  upon  your  mind,  and  extra  Cautious- 
ness can  produce  no  alarm,  any  more  than  looking  through 
green  glasses  could  make  you  believe  that  everything  is 
green.  This  principle  will  tell  you  that  you  always  look 
through  glasses  of  fear,  and  that  it  is  these  fearing  glasses 
which  alarm  you,  and  not  any  danger — that,  in  short,  your 
apprehensions  are  mostly  groundless,  and  therefore  not  to  be 
legarded  or  acted  upon.  Also  deliberate  less.  Take  less 
time  to  get  ready.  Do  not  fuss  and  fix  so  much.  Be  more 
18 


206 


CAUTIOUSNESS. 


off-hand  and  prompt.  Above  all,  do  not  allow  your  imagina- 
tion to  conjure  up  objects  of  terror,  or  dwell  on  fictitious 
danger.  Banish  all  such  suppositions,  and  indulge  the  feel- 
ing of  security  and  safety  instead.  Withdraw  your  mind  as 
much  as  possible  from  all  apprehension  and  contemplation  of 
danger,  and  try  to  dismiss  all  anxiety,  solicitude,  and  procras- 
tination, and  to  feel  contented.  Decide  off-hand  one  way  or 
another,  and  thus  forestall  that  distracted,  painful  action  of 
Cautiousness  which  always  accompanies  doubt,  uncertainty, 
vacillation,  and  halting  between  two  opinions. 

But  one  of  the  most  effectual  causes  of  groundless  fears 
and  gloomy  forebodings,  is  disordered  nerves  156,  and  impaired 
digestion  168.  When  produced  by  either  of  these  causes,  they 
cannot  be  effectually  overcome  without  removing  those  causes 
— that  is,  without  restoring  the  bodily  functions  to  health, 
directions  for  doing  which  are  given  in  Vol.  I.  If  your  fear- 
fulness proceeds  from  nervousness,  rectify  your  nervous  sys- 
tem, or  else  expect  to  suffer  all  your  life  from  groundless 
fears,  and  to  be  always  miserable  on  account  of  this  violation 
of  the  law  of  health.  To  indulge  despondency  only  aggra- 
vates your  sufferings.  Drive  out  into  the  open  air.  Forget 
your  troubles,  and  keep  doing.  Especially,  eat  less  and  do 
more  69  157  164  168  169 

In  children,  this  organ  is  often  so  large  as  to  fill  them  with 
groundless  fears  ; on  account  of  which  many  a poor  child 
has  been  rendered  miserable  for  life.  This  excess  should 
never  be  still  farther  increased  by  telling  them  frightful 
stories,  making  them  afraid  to  be  in  the  dark,  threatening 
them,  and  the  like.  All  in  my  family  know  that  nothing  of 
the  kind  must  ever  be  perpetrated  on  my  children.  Nor 
should  youth  ever  be  punished  by  being  shut  up  in  dark 
rooms,  being  told  that  they  will  see  “ raw  heads  and  bloody 
bones,”  or  that  you  will  throw  them  out  of  the  window,  or 
call  a bear  to  come  and  catch  them,  or  by  being  threatened  in 
any  way ; because,  if  Cautiousness  is  too  large,  this  will  re- 
increase it,  but  if  small,  they  will  only  laugh  at  you  and  your 
futile  threats. 

The  young  require  even  a greater  development  of  this 


FHIGHTEriNG  CHILDREN. 


207 


faculty  than  adults.  Inexperienced,  their  muscles  undisci- 
plined, and  minds  engrossed  in  hilarity  and  mirth,  unless 
spontaneously  active  Cautiousness  instinctively  warned  and 
protected  them  perpetually,  they  would  be  exposed  to  one 
continued  series  of  accidents — indeed,  they  often  hurt  them- 
selves as  it  is — and  soon  destroy  themselves.  Even  a moth- 
er’s incessant  watchfulness  is  insufficient  protection.  A care- 
less child  is  continually  burning,  or  cutting,  or  hurting  itself, 
or  falling,  or  meeting  with  accidents,  which  nothing  but  its 
ownjperpetual  carefulness  can  possibly  avert.  Hence,  nature 
has  kindly  endowed  them  with  a large  development  of  this 
organ — a provision  as  beautiful  as  necessary. 

Many  mothers  have  this  organ  too  large ; and  hence,  be- 
sides transmitting  it  in  excess  to  their  children,  live  in  per- 
petual, though  groundless,  fear  lest  they  should  fall  or  get 
into  danger,  and  therefore  caution  them  all  the  time,  even 
when  there  is  no  possible  danger.  Such  mothers  should  see 
themselves  in  the  hen  which  hatched  ducks,  and  suffered  so 
much  fear  because  her  brood  plunged  into  the  water — should 
remember  that  the  large  Cautiousness  of  their  children  will 
render  them  safe  without  all  this  cautioning.  Timid  children 
in  particular  require  to  be  soothed  instead  of  frightened,  and 
presented  with  motives  of  safety  instead  of  alarm.  Especially 
do  they  require  to  have  their  Cautiousness  offset  by  Combat- 
iveness. In  illustration  of  this  mode  of  quieting  their  fears, 
L.  N.  Fowler  tells  the  following  excellent  anecdote  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Loomis,  of  Bennington,  Vermont: — 

The  first  evening  after  moving  into  another  house,  his  young 
son,  four  or  five  years  old,  was  awakened  by  rats  running 
and  screaming  over-head,  and  so  terribly  frightened  that  his 
mother  was  obliged  to  take  him  up.  The  next  night  he  was 
still  more  terribly  frightened.  His  father,  determined  to  sub- 
due his  fears,  went  to  his  bedside,  intending  to  conquer  them 
by  chastisement — the  most  effectual  way  possible  of  increasing 
them — when  the  agonized  boy  clasped  him  around  the  neck, 
and  clung  to  him  with  desperation.  Perceiving  the  utter  im- 
possibility of  subduing  his  fears  by  force,  he  tock  him  up,  and, 
still  intent  on  arresting  a passion  so  liable,  if  unchecked,  to 


208 


APPROBATIVENESS. 


torment  him  through  life,  sent  for  a stick,  not  to  whip  but  to 
embolden  the  boy  to  drive  away  the  rats.  His  courage,  sup- 
ported by  his  stick,  and  excited  by  his  father,  at  length  so  far 
overcame  his  fears,  that  he  got  down,  and  struck  first  upon 
the  floor,  and  then  upon  the  wall,  and  finally  went  to  bed, 
stick  in  hand,  and  full  of  courage.  This  conquest  of  Cautious- 
ness by  Combativeness  doubtless  saved  him  from  the  evils  of 
cowardice,  by  emboldening  him  for  life  ; and  can  be  employed 
with  the  happiest  effect  on  all  timid  children. 

The  Cautiousness  of  the  young  should  also  be  trained  to 
work  in  connection  with  the  higher  faculties,  and  they  be 
made  afraid  to  do  wrong ; of  which  hereafter. 


12.  APPROBATIVENESS. 

“A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches 
257.  DEFINITION,  FUNCTION,  AND  LOCATION. 

Love  of  praise  ; regard  for  character  ; sense  of  honor  , 
desire  for  a good  name  ; love  of  commendation,  and  the  es- 
teem of  others  ; ambition  ; desire  to  attain  distinction,  be- 
come popular,  attract  attention,  obtain  notoriety  and  fame, 
and  rise  to  eminence  ; pride  of  character ; sensitiveness  to 
the  speeches  of  people ; desire  to  be  thought  and  spoken 
well  of. 

Large  Approbativeness  seeks  commendation,  and  is  cut 
by  censure ; is  keenly  alive  to  the  smiles  and  frowns  of 
public  opinion  ; regards  what  people  say ; seeks  to  show  off  to 
advantage ; gives  affability  and  desire  to  please ; loves  to  be 
in  the  fashion ; stands  on  etiquette  and  ceremony ; sets  much 
by  good  appearances ; and  feels  extremely  mortified  by 
reproach. 

Small  Approbativeness  cares  little  for  the  opinions  of  people  ; 
is  comparatively  insensible  to  praise  and  censure ; disregards 
style  and  fashion  ; despises  etiquette  and  polite  usages  as  such  ; 
and  never  stops  to  ask  “ what  will  folks  think  V7 


ITS  FUNCTION  AND  CULTIVATION. 


209 


It  is  located  behind  Cautiousness  254,  back  of  Conscientious- 
ness 267 , and  on  the  two  sides  of  Self-Esteem  260.  Its  lobes  are 
about  an  inch  apart,  and  run  up  and  down  from  Conscien- 
tiousness toward  Adhesiveness. 

258.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Some  things  are  constitutionally  commendable,  and  others, 
in  their  very  nature  disgraceful.  A child  falls  into  the  surg- 
ing billows,  but  is  rescued  at  the  risk  of  life  by  a self-sacrific- 
ing lover  of  his  race.  “ Noble,  worthy  of  all  praise/5  exclaim 
all  who  hear  of  the  honorable  deed.  A son  of  shame  casts 
this  same  child  into  this  same  stream,  and  though  it  is  saved, 
“ disgraceful,  contemptible  wretch,”  murmur  all  who  know  it. 
“ Shame  on  you/5  “ That’s  a fine  boy/5  and  kindred  encomi- 
ums and  reproaches  appeal  to  this  faculty.  To  this  inherent 
praiseworthiness  of  some  actions  and  characteristics,  and  dis- 
reputableness of  others,  this  faculty  is  adapted,  and  adapts 
man. 

Nor  is  its  influence  weak  or  range  limited.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  appertains  to  all  we  say,  do,  and  are,  and  creates  an 
insatiable  desire  to  do  and  become  what  will  secure  praise. 
Indeed,  when  properly  directed,  it  is  a most  powerful  incen- 
tive to  virtue  and  preventive  of  vice ; but  becomes,  when  per- 
verted, as  it  too  often  is,  an  equally  potent  instrument  of  evil. 
Its  cultivation  and  due  regulation  therefore  become  matters 
of  the  utmost  importance.  How,  then,  can  they  be  effected  ? 

By  placing  before  it  that  commendation  of  mankind  to 
which  it  is  adapted214215.  We  should  all  seek  to  be  praised. 
This  element  was  not  created  for  naught,  and  cannot  lie  dor- 
mant with  impunity.  As  its  absence  deprives  the  mind  of  a 
powerful  incentive  to  praiseworthy  deeds,  so  its  presence,  duly 
regulated,  renders  us  emulous  to  do  and  become  what  will 
secure  commendation,  and  thus  redoubles  every  virtue,  and 
restrains  e rery  vice,  because  the  former  excites  praise  while 
the  latter  is  disgraceful. 

Ambition,  properly  directed,  should  then  be  indulged.  All 
should  endeavor  not  only  to  stand  fair  in  the  eyes  of  their  fel- 
low-men as  far  as  known,  but  to  become  known  more  and  still 
18* 


210 


APPROBAT  IVENESS. 


more  extensively.  To  despise  the  opinions  of  men  s on  a par 
with  disdaining  food,  or  property,  or  children,  and  to  love  and 
seek  it  as  essential  to  human  perfection  as  to  exercise  any 
other  primitive  function  of  body  or  mind. 

Approbativeness  should  therefore  be  cultivated.  And  to 
do  this,  set  motives  of  praise  before  it.  Indulge  a generous 
emulation  to  excel.  Keep  your  character  spotless,  and  say 
nothing,  do  nothing  disgraceful.  Assume  those  pleasant  modes 
of  action  and  expression,  and  agreeable  manners  and  address 
calculated  to  elicit  encomiums.  Say  agreeable  things  as 
often  and  as  far  as  consistent  with  the  higher  faculties,  and 
avoid  giving  offence  unless  where  they  demand  a sacrifice  of 
popularity  to  duty.  Mind  appearances  in  those  little  matters 
of  life  which  win.  And  when  you  must  say  unpopular  things, 
couch  them  in  as  pleasing  a manner  as  may  be.  Even  reform- 
ers, by  pursuing  this  course,  would  secure  more  friends  and 
make  fewer  enemies  to  themselves,  and  therefore  to  their 
cause — a point  of  great  practical  importance,  be  our  pursuits 
what  they  may,  yet  little  appreciated. 

We  should  especially  desire  to  retain  and  enhance  the  esti- 
mation of  our  friends.  We  cannot  long  retain  their  attach- 
ment when  we  make  them  ashamed  of  us,  but  shall  redouble 
their  friendship  by  rendering  them  proud  of  us.  Let  me  be 
an  honor,  not  a disgrace  to  my  friends.  Let  me  so  write, 
speak,  and  conduct,  that  they  shall  glory  in  espousing  my 
cause.  Yet  these  views  will  presently  receive  a most  import- 
ant qualification. 

A faculty  thus  beneficial  t^  adults  should  be  cultivated  in 
the  young.  Indeed,  few  appeals  to  any  of  their  other  faculties 
are  as  effective  as  to  this.  All  know  how  powerfully  praise 
stimulates  them  to  do  what  we  wish.  They  can  be  flattered 
into  almost  anything.  Tell  John  he  is  a good  boy,  and  that 
you  expect  he  will  always  continue  so — that  he  generally 
minds,  and  you  hope  he  always  will,  that  he  does  well,  and 
bids  fair  to  do  still  better — and  this  stimulation  of  Approbative- 
ness redoubles  his  efforts  to  deserve  still  more. 

But  blast  his  pride  of  character  by  telling  him  that  he  is 
addle-pated  and  a disgrace  to  himself  and  all  about  him  ; that 


MORTIFYING  YOUTH  PERNICIOUS.  211 

he  is  nothing  and  never  can  be ; that  he  is  the  worst  child 
you  ever  saw ; that  he  falsifies,  or  is  forgetful,  or  always  in 
the  wrong,  and  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  himself ; and  even 
though  he  would  do  right,  yet  he  either  feels  ashamed  to  try, 
or  else  thinks  he  cannot  sink  any  lower  in  your  estimation, 
and  so  will  not  attempt  to  do  better.  Suspect  or  accuse  him 
of  stealing,  and  he  will  be  far  more  likely  to  pilfer  than  if  he 
thinks  you  confide  fully  in  him ; because,  in  the  former  case, 
he  thinks  he  may  as  well  have  the  game  since  he  has  the 
name,  but  in  the  latter  that  his  reputation  is  at  stake,  and 
hence  that  he  must  keep  it  untarnished.  Those  who  are  per- 
petually blaming  or  accusing  children  or  servants  do  not  un- 
derstand human  nature.  Keep  good  their  sense  of  character, 
and  if  they  disgrace  themselves,  instead  of  taunting  them 
with  their  fall,  and  making  them  feel  degraded  and  outcast  in 
their  own  eyes,  let  them  feel  that  the  error  in  question  will 
be  freely  forgiven,  and  they  reinstated  provided  they  behave 
well  for  the  future. 

This  law  of  mind  applies  equally  to  young  people.  When 
their  regard  for  character  is  gone,  hope  takes  its  flight,  and 
almost  certain  ruin  awaits  them.  To  mortify  or  shame  them 
sears  Approbativeness,  and  makes  them  feel  that,  since  they 
are  disgraced,  they  may  as  well  “ die  for  an  old  sheep, 55  and 
sin  on.  As  witnessing  animal  butchery  blunts  the  tender 
sympathies  of  virgin  Benevolence,  the  coarse  and  revolting 
deteriorates  Ideality,  the  goadings  of  a guilty  conscience  hard- 
en this  faculty,  interrupted  love  blights  Adhesiveness,  and  the 
painful  action  of  all  the  faculties  sears  and  palsies  their  other- 
wise keen  susceptibilities,  so  to  treat  youth  or  adults  as  if 
disgraced  in  the  eyes  of  others,  hardens  Approbativeness,  ex- 
cites Combativeness,  and,  more  than  almost  anything  else, 
renders  them  worse,  because  it  paralyzes  this  powerful  incen- 
tive to  good  deeds.  As  long  as  the  drunkard  was  treated  with 
contempt,  he  drank  on ; bu  as  soon  as  that  Christ-taught 
principle  of  Washingtonianism  set  him  again  upon  a respect- 
able footing,  shook  his  hand,  and  treated  him  again  with  con- 
sideration, he  reformed  ; because,  as  long  as  he  considered 
his  respectability  irretrievably  lost,  he  made  no  efforts  to 


212 


APPR0BATIVENE3S. 


regain  it,  for  ambition  was  crippled ; but  as  soon  as  he  was 
practically  assured  that  he  should  again  be  treated  with  re- 
spect in  case  he  deserved  it,  ambition  revived  and  spurred 
him  on  to  attain  so  desirable  a meed  as  honor.  This  prin- 
ciple applies  equally  to  all  ages  and  orders  of  men — is  in  fact 
a law  of  mind,  and  develops  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  all 
instrumentalities  of  making  men  better.  All  mankind,  from 
the  king  to  the  beggar,  and  even  the  most  degraded  outcast, 
desire  praise  and  will  work  for  it.  Love  of  food  and  life  is 
hardly  stronger  or  more  universal,  because  each  is  a primi- 
tive faculty.  Hence  men,  and  especially  children,  before  this 
faculty  has  become  seared  by  reproach,  should  never  be  mor- 
tified, and  especially  for  things  not  actually  disgraceful.  Yet 
how  many  parents  both  reproach  their  children  daily  and 
almost  hourly,  and  that  for  things  not  only  not  wrong  in  them- 
selves, but  actually  the  promptings  of  unperverted  nature. 
Yet,  in  so  doing,  they  both  render  them  worse,  and  lose  their 
influence  over  them. 

259.  ITS  DUE  REGULATION  AND  RESTRAINT. 

But  this  faculty  is  often  excessive,  compared  with  the  otn- 
ers  210,  and  still  more  frequently  perverted  208.  Few  faculties 
require  right  direction  more  than  this,  and  the  wrong  action 
of  few  occasions  more  evil,  individual  and  public.  How  su- 
premely ridiculous  many  are  rendered  by  its  excess  and  per- 
version ! The  whole  world  is  in  full  chase  after  praise,  but, 
unfortunately,  for  the  wrong  things.  And,  in  general,  man- 
kind struggle  «to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  commendation,  less 
for  what  they  are,  than  for  what  they  possess.  Some  pride 
themselves  on  their  horses,  dogs,  and  even  canes  and  boots ! 
" Look  here,  Jim,”  said  one  dandified  exquisite  to  another, 
“ don’t  you  think  I dined  up  town  ’tother  day  with  white  kid 
gloves  on.  I did  so,  and  the  hull  party  had  ’em  on,  too.”  What 
if  you  did  ? How  much  better  did  it  render  you  ? “ What 

shall  I wear  to  the  dance  to-night  ?”  asks  one.  “ What  dress 
would  you  wear  to  church  to-day  ?”  inquires  another.  “ O, 
that  old-fashioned  bonnet  aint  fit  for  a wench  to  wear  to  meet 
ing.  The  newest  fashion  is  out,  and  I should  be  ashamed  to 


THE  FASHIONS. 


213 


be  seen  there  till  I get  a new  one,  for  you  know  1 better  be 
out  of  the  world  than  out  of  the  fashion/  ” says  a third.  And 
when  she  gets  it,  how  she  flares  ! One  would  think  by  the 
way  she  walks,  that  she  was  pretty  considerably  more  than 
human.  Yet  she  is  only  a human  fool,  and  says  so  in  prac- 
tice— and  actions  speak  louder  than  words — because  she  vir- 
tually rates  her  dress  above  herself.  Be  her  virtues  what 
they  may,  she  is  ashamed  of  herself  unless  enrobed,  not  in 
a neat,  nice  dress  merely,  but  in  a fashionable  one.  Now 
this  fashionableness  or  unfashionableness  is  absolutely  noth- 
ing ; yet,  since  it  is  of  so  much  more  importance  than  her- 
self, how  insignificant,  in  all  conscience,  must  she  be  ? How 
supremely  ridiculous  the  idea,  presupposed  by  fashion,  that 
the  mere  form  of  the  dress  can  add  one  iota  to  the  reputable- 
ness of  the  wearer,  or  unfashionable  attire  diminish  ought 
therefrom  ! Is  man-made  attire  more  praiseworthy  than  God- 
made  humanity  ? Is  the  man,  indeed,  so  insignificant  com- 
pared with  the  thing  ? Shall  silks  and  satins,  ribboned  off 
and  tied  together  in  fantastic  shapes,  and  distended  by  coffee- 
bags  and  cotton,  be  the  standard  of  valuation  ? Can  fabrics, 
and  even  golden  trinkets,  enhance  the  honorableness  of  the 
“ lord  of  creation  V 9 And  wilt  thou,  reader,  practically  en- 
dorse a standard  of  praise  so  superlatively  ridiculous  ? Will 
you  libel  the  dignity  and  glory  of  your  God-like  nature  ? 261 
O,  votaries  of  fashion  ! how  foolish,  how  wicked  ! And  what 
untold  but  self-induced  miseries  you  suffer  in  consequence  ! 
Words  utterly  fail  to  depict  the  evils  of  fashion  ! Drunken- 
ness bears  no  comparison  with  it  in  the  number  of  its  victims, 
or  aggravation  of  its  sufferings.  All  the  crimes  of  all  cul- 
prits are  trifles  compared  with  this  monster  of  iniquity.  The 
evils  even  of  licentiousness,  most  appalling  as  they  are,  are 
pigmies  by  the  side  of  this  mighty  giant,  because,  while  the 
former  slays  its  thousands,  the  latter  devours  its  tens  of  thou- 
sands, soul  and  body.  Indeed,  but  for  the  latter,  the  victims 
of  the  former  would  be  few.  Nine  in  every  ten  of  the  daugh- 
ters of  infamy  humble  themselves  to  procure  the  means  of 
following  the  fashions.  How  generally  is  the  poverty  of  the 
poor,  at  least  in  this  country,  induced  by  past  or  present  out- 


214 


APPROBATIVENESS. 


lays  for  fashionable  display.  Say,  hard-working  husband, 
do  not  at  least  half  your  labors  go  to  keep  up  appearances  in 
dress,  style  of  living,  and  the  like  ? 

But  all  these  evils  are  but  “ as  a drop  in  the  bucket,”  com- 
pared with  its  degrading  influences  on  the  soul.  Let  the 
meed  of  praise  now  bestowed  on  dress  be  awarded  to  intellect 
and  moral  worth— let  men  be  praised  for  their  talents  as 
much  as  now  for  their  coats,  and  woman  for  her  virtues  as 
now  for  her  fashionable  attire — and  what  a mighty  rush  would 
this  occasion  toward  intellectual  attainments  and  moral  excel- 
lence ? Mankind  would  not  then,  as  now,  neglect  their  minds 
and  live  for  their  persons,  but  would  labor  and  strive,  with  all 
the  energies  of  their  being,  to  develop  by  culture  the  exalted 
capabilities  of  their  natures 961 . But  it  now  prevents  such 
culture  by  engrossing  for  fashion  the  time  required  for  mental 
and  moral  discipline.  A standard  of  praise  thus  utterly  con- 
temptible in  itself  and  ruinous  in  its  effects  would  disgrace 
even  the  monkey  tribes.  Then  shall  man — shall  we — prac- 
tically endorse  it?  Shall  our  ambition  fasten  on  nothing 
higher  than  broadcloths  and  bonnets — nor  on  these  merely, 
but  on  their  being  cut  and  made  after  a particular  pattern  ? 
Shall  our  very  lives  and  souls  be  offered  up  on  the  altar  of 
such  a goddess  ? Shall  we  who  were  made  to  reflect  the  image 
of  God  be  content  to  be  darkened  by  such  fripperies  ? Shall 
we  who  are  constituted  to  soar  aloft  on  the  wings  of  angels 
descend  even  below  inanimate  matter  ? Shall  we  exalt  our 
clothes  above  ourselves  ? Or  shall  we  sanction  so  despicable 
a standard  of  praise  in  others  ? Let  men  point  the  finger  of 
ridicule  at  my  dress  as  they  may,  but  let  my  ambition  apper- 
tain to  conduct  and  morals,  not  to  riches  or  any  external 
“ pomp  or  circumstance.” 

In  phrenological  language,  Approbativeness  should  not  be 
governed  by  the  propensities,  but  by  the  higher  faculties. 
Men  should  not  take  pride  in  eating  the  most  oysters,  or  drink- 
ing the  most  grog ; or  in  being  the  greatest  fighters,  whether 
in  personal  combat,  the  pugilistic  ring,  or  battle  array , but 
should  seek  praise  for  what  they  are— for  what  is  in  them, 
not  on  them.  We  have  already  shown  that  the  moral  and 


ITS  RIGHT  riRECTION. 


215 


intellectual  faculties  should  guide  and  govern  all  the 
others211.  Then  let  this  indispensable  condition  of  virtue  and 
happiness  be  the  supreme  law  of  our  Approbativeness. 

Since  the  proper  direction  of  this  faculty  is  thus  all-import- 
ant to  adults,  how  much  more  so  to  the  young  ? — and  to  the 
former  because  to  the  latter.  Shall  this  normal  instinct  in 
them  be  taught  to  exult  in  these  ridiculous  trappings  ? Parents, 
will  you  make  your  boys  puppet-shows,  and  your  girls  head, 
blocks  for  millinery  exhibitions  ? Praise  them  for  goodness. 
Never  commend  them  because  they  are  rigged  off  in  new  or 
fashionable  attire,  or  have  curly  hair,  or  are  handsome,  or  for 
anything  extraneous,  but  only  for  what  implies  moral  worth 
or  intellectual  superiority. 

This  giving  boys  canes  and  dressing  them  off  in  the  height 
of  fashion  like  dandies,  is  ruinous.  To  see  them  smoke,  chew, 
talk  large,  swagger,  perhaps  swear  238,  and  vaunt  themselves  on 
these  and  kindred  exteriors,  thinking  it  manly  to  thus  play  the 
fool,  proclaims  the  stulticity  of  their  parents,  and  foreshadows 
their  own  prospective  downfall.  And  to  see  girls,  superbly 
dressed,  profusely  ruffled  and  padded,  with  sun-shade  or  muff, 
parading  the  pave  as  disdainfully  as  queens,  is  supremely  ri- 
diculous. Green  things  are  insipid  and  unwholesome — green 
ladies  especially.  Let  them  be  girls — play  and  romp  free 
from  all  fashionable  restraint — till  they  spontaneously  ex- 
change the  girl  for  the  woman.  But  of  this  more  at  length  in 
“ Maternity.” 

Nor  should  they  be  paid  for  learning  by  tickets,  rewards, 
premiums,  medals,  and  the  like.  College  appointments,  hon- 
orary degrees,  and  this  whole  system  of  literary  emulation  is 
wrong.  Not  that  the  best  scholars  should  not  be  commended, 
but  let  them  be  induced  to  study  from  love  of  learning  in- 
stead of  from  motives  of  vanity.  Those  who  study  for  the  sake 
of  praise  will  relapse  as  soon  as  rivalship  ceases  ; whereas 
those  who  love  to  improve  for  its  own  sake  will  continue  it 
through  life.  And  thousands  of  our  ambitious  youth  break 
down  and  die  of  excessive  application,  just  to  stand  at  the  head 
of  their  class. 

This  faculty  is  so  large  in  some  as  to  render  them  artificial 


216 


APPROBATIVENESS. 


and  affected — as  to  make  them  twist  themselves  unconsciously 
into  a great  many  most  ungainly  postures,  and  walk,  sit,  and 
place  their  hands  most  awkwardly,  just  “to  be  seen  of  men.” 
In  trying  to  look  and  behave  all  so  nicely  and  prettily,  they 
make  themselves  ridiculous.  Be  natural  if  you  would  be 
graceful.  All  efforts  at  putting  on  gentility  only  result  in 
awkwardness.  What  does  not  “whistle  itself’’26,  cannot  be 
made  to  whistle.  Natural  manners  are  always  agreeable ; 
artificial  always  awkward.  How  exceedingly  unpleasant 
those  who  try  to  be  extra  mannerly.  Let  such  forget  them- 
selves, and  throw  themselves  into  conversation,  or  whatever 
they  may  be  doing,  and  they  will  be  passable.  And  let  all 
who  would  reduce  this  faculty,  not  feed  it,  but  offset  it  by 
such  reflections  as  these : “ What  if  they  do  underrate,  and 
even  ridicule  me  ? Suppose  I do  not  dress  as  well  as  others, 
does  that  make  me  any  the  worse  ? Besides,  my  Approba- 
tiveness  is  too  large.  Hence  I feel  more  shame  and  mortifi- 
cation than  occasion  requires,  am  too  keenly  alive  to  praise 
and  censure,  and  too  apt  to  think  myself  neglected  when  I am 
not.  I will  not  let  such  things  trouble  me,  but  will  turn  my 
attention  to  more  important  matters.  Others  do  not  notice 
me  as  much  as  my  excessive  Approbativeness  supposes.  I 
will  act  out  myself,  and  not  be  so  stiff,  precise,  artificial,  and 
affected.  In  short,  I will  reduce  this  faculty  by  exercising  it 
less,  and  always  aright.” 

Nor  should  children  in  whom  it  predominates  be  laughed 
at  for  this  and  that  smart  saying  or  doing,  or  be  noticed  in 
their  fishings  for  praise.  Nor  should  their  pert  speeches  be 
told  to  others  before  them.  Notice  them  but  little,  and  com- 
mend very  sparingly  and  judiciously. 


FUNCTION  OF  SELF-ESTEEM. 


217 


13.  SELF-ESTEEM. 

“In  his  own  image  created  he  them.” 

260.  DEFINITION,  FUNCTION,  AND  LOCATION. 

Magnanimity  ; self- valuation  ; nobleness  ; self-reli- 
ance ; independence  ; love  of  liberty  and  dominion  ; self- 
complacency  ; dignity  ; self-satisfaction  ; desire  for  power  ; 
the  aspiring,  self-elevating,  ruling  instinct ; that  high- 
toned  pride  of  character  and  manliness  which  commands 
respect,  despises  meanness  and  self-degradation,  and  creates 
lofty  aspirings  to  do  something  great  and  worthy.  Will, 
self-government,  or  volition,  is  also  a function  of  this 
faculty. 

Large  Self-Esteem  puts  a high  estimate  upon  itself,  its 
doings,  sayings,  and  capabilities;  falls  back  upon  its  own 
unaided  resources ; assumes  responsibilities  which  it  feels 
abundantly  able  to  sustain  ; will  not  endure  restraint  or  take 
advice,  but  insists  on  being  its  own  man  and  master ; is  high- 
minded,  and  feels  above  stooping  to  demean  or  degrade  itself; 
aims  high,  and  is  not  satisfied  with  small  success,  or  a petty 
business,  but  feels  wholly  competent  to  conduct  a large  one ; 
comports  and  expresses  itself  with  dignity,  perhaps  majesty ; 
and  is  perfectly  satisfied  with  self. 

Small  Self-Esteem  lacks  self-confidence  and  weight  of 
character ; feels  unworthy,  inferior,  and  as  if  in  the  way ; 
distrusts  its  own  capabilities,  and  shrinks  from  assuming  re- 
sponsible stations  and  undertaking  great  things  on  the  score  of 
incompetence  ; cannot  command  ; is  apt  to  say  and  do  trifling 
things  ; lacks  self-reliance  and  independence  ; underrates  its 
own  capabilities  and  worth,  and  is  therefore  liable  to  be 
underrated  by  others. 

To  find  this  organ,  draw  a perpendicular  line,  when  the 
head  is  erect,  from  the  opening  of  the  eai  to  the  top  of  the 
head.  This  conducts  you  to  the  fore  part  of  Firmness.  Self. 
Esteem  lies  two  inches,  or  a little  less,  directly  backward. 

Jt  is  large  in  the  accompanying  engraving  of  Judge  Living- 
ston— formerly  Supreme  Judge  on  the  U.  S.  bench,  and  a 
19 


213 


SELF-ESTEEM. 


candidate  for  vice-president — as  seen  by  the  projection  of  his 
head  at  the  crown,  but  small  in  the  Affectionate  Mother,  cut 
No.  4 2l9.  See  also  Conscientiousness  260. 


SELF-ESTEEM  LARGE. 


No.  16.  Judge  Livingston. 


261.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Man  is  the  veritable  “ lord  of  creation” — the  greatest  ter- 
restrial work  of  God.  Magnificent,  yonder  towering  mountain. 
Stupendous,  Niagara’s  awe-inspiring  cataract.  Inconceivably 
vast,  planets,  suns,  and  the  countless  worlds  which  float  in  the 
azure  sky.  In  view  of  the  wonderful  wTorks  of  God,  one  in- 
voluntarily exclaims,  “ What  is  man  ?”  Greater  than  they 
all ! What  is  Niagara  beheld  only  by  brute  ? What  ^Etna’s 
volcanic  eruption  or  the  whole  earth’s  gigantic  bulk — what 
even  the  material  heavens  and  their  myriads  of  worlds — in 


THE  PERFECTION  OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 


219 


comparison  with  man  ? Can  inorganic  matter,  however  huge, 
surpass  man’s  divinely-contrived  system  of  bones,  muscles, 
organs,  and  nerves,  all  redolent  with  life  and  teeming  with 
enjoyment  ? Happiness  being  the  standard  of  valuation  tha* 
is  greatest  which  enjoys  most.  Does  Chimborazo  feel,  or  the 
earth  enjoy?  Was  not  terrestrial  creation  made  for  man, 
not  he  for  it  ? And  is  that  greatest  which  is  made  to 
serve  ? Is  the  chariot  above  the  charioteer  ? Are  not  more 
divine  Wisdom  and  Power  exhibited  in  the  structure  of  the 
human  hand  or  eye  than  in  the  whole  universe  of  inorganic 
matter  ? 

But  the  creation  of  mind — this  is  the  greatest  work  of  God  1 
Compared  therewith,  all  else  is  “ dust  and  ashes.”  The  do- 
mestic affections,  the  resisting  239,  feeding  245,  economical249, 
provident  255,  emulous  258,  and  other  instincts,  how  infinitely 
wise  in  constitution  and  efficient  in  function  ! Yet  it  is  his 
moral  and  intellectual  elements  which  form  his  crowning 
endowments.  These  render  man  near  of  kin  to  angels,  and 
constitute  us  “the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Lord  Almighty!” 
They  even  array  him  in  the  robes  of  immortality,  and  confer 
on  those  who  fulfil  its  conditions,  capabilities  of  becoming 
eternally  and  inconceivably  holy  and  happy!  Yes,  “in  the 
image  of  God”  is  every  one  of  us  created.  His  intellectual 
and  moral  likeness  is  stamped  upon  our  souls,  and  even  forms 
their  constituent  elements.  Does  the  great  Parent  of  all  love 
his  children  ? So  do  human  parents  love  theirs.  Does  He 
delight  to  provide  for  his,  and  do  not  they  also  for  theirs  ? 221 
Is  He  a perfect  economist,  and  are  not  we  also  ? 249  Does  He 
delight  in  praise,  and  do  not  we  ? 258  Is  He  immutable — “ the 
same  from  all  eternity  to  all  eternity” — and  are  not  we  also 
endowed  with  this  element  of  stability?  265  Is  Pie  rigidly  just, 
and  do  we  not  respond  to  the  supremacy  of  right  ? 268  Is  He 
a Spirit,  and  has  he  not  endowed  us  also  with  a spiritual  es- 
sence— an  immortal  soul?  276  Does  He  delight  to  pour  out 
upon  all  sentient  beings  a continual  succession  and  variation 
of  blessings  such  as  naught  but  Infinite  Wisdom  could  devise, 
or  Infinite  Goodness  bestow  1 2,  and  does  not  this  heaven-born 
sentiment  inspire  our  own  souls  to  do  good  282  ? Are  infinite 


220 


SELF-ESTEEM. 


Beauty  and  Perfection  stamped  upon  the  character  and  all  the 
works  of  the  Almighty,  and  is  not  man,  too,  highly  adorned 
in  person  and  exquisitely  constituted  in  mind,  and  does  he  not 
pant  after  a higher  and  still  higher  measure  of  self-perfec- 
tion ? 288  Is  God  the  great  Mechanist  of  the  universe,  and 
has  he  not  conferred  on  us  also  this  self-same  desire  and  capa- 
bility to  make  ? 285  Does  He  see  and  know  all  things,  and  do 
we  not  desire  to  observe  420  and  acquire  knowledge  474  ? Does 
He  speak  to  all  sentient  beings  in  the  eloquent  and  instructive 
language  of  nature,  and  do  we  not  also  commune  with  our 
fellow-men  ? 510  Is  He  the  great  “ Cause  of  causes,”  and  in- 
finitely wise  in  adapting  ways  and  means  to  ends,  and  has  he 
not  endowed  us  also  with  this  divine  capability  ? 542  What  ele- 
ment possessed  by  Him  is  not  possessed  by  us?  In  degree 
alone  consists  the  heaven- wide  difference.  We  pervert  our 
faculties  and  sin  208  ; He  exercises  his  normally,  or  in  perfec. 
accordance  with  the  fitness  of  things.  But  His  and  our 
primitive  elements  are  the  same.  We  are  “ living  stones” 
in  his  infinite  temple.  He  breathed  of  his  own  divine  spirit 
into  our  nostrils,  and  we  become  “ living  souls.”  “ In  his  own 
image,”  moral  and  intellectual,  reader,  are  we  created.  With 
“ a live  coal  from  off  the  altar”  of  his  own  nature,  He  lighted  up 
the  fire  of  immortality  which  burns,  however  dimly,  within  us. 
His  divine  likeness  we  bear.  That  likeness  is  faded,  and 
mildewed,  and  crushed,  yet  it  is  there.  Sin  has  stained  it, 
and  depravity  almost  obliterated  it,  but  the  canvass  is  divine 
in  structure,  and  the  original  lineaments  and  colors  as  pen- 
ciled by  the  infallible  Artist  of  the  universe,  are  still  visible- 
are  even  a miniature  of  his  own  intellectual  and  moral  con- 
formation ! — faint,  yet  perceptible.  Trodden  into  the  mire 
of  moral  corruption,  yet  there  still ! Lift  it  up ; wash  off  its 
filth  ; remove  its  stains  by  varnishing  it  with  the  oil  of  for- 
giveness ; burnish  it ; hold  it  up  to  the  light  of  its  primitive 
constitution,  and  O ! behold  the  divine  in  that  portrait  even 
yet.  Defaced  it  can  be,  but  effaced  never.  God  will  not  let 
his  pencilings  be  wholly  extinguished.  His  spirit  he  “ will  not 
utterly  take  away.”  Yes — thank  the  Lord — every  one  of  us 
carries  within  the  innermost  recesses  of  our  own  souls  this 


REQUISITION  FOR  ITS  EXRECISE. 


221 


mental  portrait  of  the  Almighty;  and  if  we  “occupy  till  he 
comes,”  we  shall  both  see  him  as  he  is,  and  be  like  him. 
“Beholding  his  face,  we  shall  be  changed  from  glory  to 
glory,”  till  he  cleansed  portrait  of  humanity,  retouched  by 
that  same  Artist  who  first  fashioned  it  after  himself,  shall 
reflect  in  the  galleries  of  heaven,  to  all  eternity,  the  perfect 
“ image  and  likeness”  of  our  Infinite  Original — the  God  and 
Father  of  us  all ! And  even  all  this  is  but  the  faintest  glim- 
mering  of  what  humanity  is  capable  of  accomplishing  and 
becoming ! and  to  these  exalted  ends  and  destinies,  Self- 
Esteem  is  adapted  and  adapts  man. 

Have  we  not,  then,  a perfect  right  to  place  a most  ex- 
alted estimate  upon  ourselves  ? Can  we  well  overrate  our 
own  worth  1 We  may,  indeed,  value  ourselves  wrongfully — 
even  on  account  of  our  deformities — but  not  too  much.  This 
faculty  may  take  a wrong  direction,  but  cannot  well  be  too 
large.  Then  why  hang  our  heads  or  sink  back  into  the  cor- 
ner of  insignificance  ? Are  the  children  of  God  such  inferior, 
unworthy,  degraded  “ worms  of  the  dust  ?”  All  that  should 
humble  us  is  what  we  have  done,  not  what  we  are  by  nature. 
Away  with  this  idea  of  man’s  nothingness  and  inferiority — 
Phrenology  arraigns  it  as  false.  All  that  even  a God  could 
do  to  exalt  and  endow  humanity,  God  has  done.  Reference 
here,  and  throughout  this  train  of  remark,  is  had  to  our  prim- 
itive constitution,  and  not  to  man’s  present  degraded,  depraved 
condition.  That  we  have  fallen  from  this  high  estate,  is  a self- 
experienced  fact.  That  we,  created  only  a “ little  lower  than 
the  angels,  and  endowed  with  honor  and  immortality,”  should 
have  fallen  instead  of  soared — should  even  have  so  far  de- 
generated from  our  divine  parentage  as  to  deny  ft,  and  given 
ourselves  up  to  work  all  manner  of  uncleanness  and  iniquity — 
O,  this  should  humble  us  in  the  very  dust.  That  capabilities 
thus  transcendent  should  be  thus  abused,  so  as  even  to  work  the 
work  of  incarnate  devils,  should  sting  us  to  the  quick  with 
remorse,  and  bring  us  upon  the  bended  knees  of  contrition, 
imploring,  with  the  prodigal  son,  forgiveness  and  restoration. 
And  those  who  do  thus  repent  and  pray,  will  be  re-clothed 
and  reinstated.  We  are  bent  but  not  broken — trampled  into 
19* 


222 


SELF-ESTEEM. 


the  mire,  but  not  crushed  to  atoms — withered,  but  not  dead. 
The  divine  original  is  in  us  still.  O arise,  son  of  shame  and 
daughter  of  sorrow  Shake  off  dull  sloth.  Trim  thy  heaven- 
constructed  lamp.  Meet  thy  inviting  heavenly  Father.  Put 
away  all  thy  idols,  all  thy  sins ; and  array  thyself  again  “ in 
garments  clean  and  white.55  “ Touch  not,  taste  not,  any  un- 
clean thing.55  Ascend  those  lofty  heights  from  which  thou 
hast  fallen.  O cultivate  the  divine  gift  within  thee.  Be  in 
fact  what  thy  Creator  capacitated  thee  by  nature  to  become.  It 
is  late,  but  not  yet  the  eleventh  hour.  The  doors  of  this  heavenly 
palace  are  not  yet  wholly  closed.  Arise  quickly,  and  enter.* 

A secondary  adaptation  of  this  faculty  is  to  that  law  of 
mind  by  which  to  confide  in  our  own  strength  promotes  suc- 
cess, and  appreciating  our  capabilities  augments  efficiency. 
Tell  that  boy  he  “ can’t  if  he  tries,55  and  he  will  either  not 
attempt,  or  only  feebly ; but  telling  him  “ You  can,55  con- 
tributes wonderfully  to  success.  Encouraging  Self-Esteem  en- 
hances effort  and  excellence  quite  as  much  as  exciting  Appro- 
bativeness ; while  discouraged  Self-Esteem,  like  mortified 
Approbativeness,  palsies  the  entire  man  25S.  To  this  requisi- 
t'on  for  self-confidence  this  faculty  is  adapted  and  adapts  man. 
It  elevates  all  its  aims  and  aspirations,  and  thereby  redoubles 
both  effort  and  success.  As,  by  aiming  at  the  sun,  though 
we  do  not  hit  it,  we  yet  shoot  much  higher  than  if  our  mark 
were  low,  so  this  faculty  inspires  us  to  desire  and  attempt  to 
do  and  become  something  worthy  of  ourselves,  and  should 
therefore  be  cultivated. 

Self-satisfaction  is  another  trait  in  human  nature  as  ne- 
cessary as  it  is  universal.  The  poorest  beggar  would  not 
exchange  himself — not  places,  but  soul  and  body — with  the 
richest,  wisest,  most  renowned,  and  best  of  men.  We  often 
feel  dissatisfied  with  our  lot,  but  rarely  with  ourselves. 
Even  our  faults  are  too  often  converted  into  occasions  of 

* Phrenology  is  accused  of  degrading  man — of  making  him  a mere 
material  thing — with  what  justice,  let  the  reader  of  this  chapter  say.  On 
the  contrary,  none  but  the  phrenologist  can  appreciate  the  true  dignity 
and  glory  of  the  human  mind,  or  comprehend  its  perfections  and  capa- 
bilities. The  more  I study  the  latter,  the  more  I admire  the  former. 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


'223 


pride.  How  many  times,  on  telling  men  professionally  of  this 
or  that  excess  or  defect,  such  as  of  deficient  Conscientious- 
ness, of  libertinism,  cunning,  carelessness,  vanity,  and  the 
like,  have  they  publicly  acknowledged  that  these  things  were  so, 
and  rather  gloried  in  them.  But  for  this  principle  of  self- val- 
uation, what  endless  animosities  would  everywhere  occur  ? 
What  complaints  against  God  for  bestowing  on  others  more 
than  on  us  ? But  this  trait  lulls  all  such  murmurs,  and  instead, 
makes  us  thankful  that,  Pharisee-like,  we  “ are  not  as  other 
men.”  This  necessary  and  inimitably  beautiful  end  is  se- 
cured by  Self-Esteem,  and  the  larger  it  is  the  better  satisfied 
we  are  with  ourselves ; and  since  all  have  more  or  less  of  it, 
all  are  more  or  less  self-satisfied. 

The  cultivation  of  a faculty  thus  ennobling  is  commensurate 
with  these  exalted  ends  it  was  created  to  subserve.  All  should 
therefore  exercise  it  in  all  these  phases.  We  should  study 
that  we  may  appreciate  our  own  selves,  and  when  we  have 
learned  what  sphere  nature  has  adapted  us  to  fill 2l6,  should  do 
our  utmost  to  rise  therein  higher  and  still  higher.  Let  our 
motto  be,  “ Excelsior,  Excelsior.”  Nor  should  we  ever 
indulge  distrust  of  our  own  capabilities,  but  rather  say  in 
actions,  with  Col.  Miller,  when  asked,  “ Can  you  storm  that 
fort  ?”  “ I can  try  !”  “ Faint  hearts  never  win,”  but  “ what 

man  has  done,  man  can  do,”  accomplishes  as  if  by  magic. 
Nor  should  we  envy  others  because  they  are  more  highly  gift- 
ed by  nature  than  we,  but  strive  to  make  the  most  of  our  one 
or  two  talents ; for  what  they  possess  was  not  taken  from  us. 
We  should  rather  make  up  by  extra  culture  what  we  lack  by 
nature.  Do  any  of  us  employ  half  our  present  capabilities  ? 
Then  why  complain  because  we  have  no  more  ? To  use 
what  is  already  possessed,  will  confer  more. 

Those  in  whom  this  faculty  is  weak,  besides  elevating  them- 
selves in  view  of  those  lofty  destinies  of  our  nature  already 
presented,  should  choose  and  act  for  themselves  ; may  hear 
advice,  but  should  make  up  and  follow  their  own  judgment; 
should  always  comport  themselves  with  dignity  and  self-re- 
spect ; pay  their  own  way  through  life,  and  never  allow  them* 
selves  to  be  beholden  or  subservient  to  any ; remember  that 


224 


SELF-ESTEEM. 


their  oppressive  feelings  of  unworthiness  and  insignificance 
are  not  caused  by  actual  inferiority,  but  by  deficient  Self- 
Esteem  ; that  were  they  ever  so  good  or  great,  they  would  feel 
thus  humble ; that  they  underrate  themselves,  and  require  to 
hold  up  their  heads ; that  they  are  as  good  as  the  generality 
of  men ; that  while  humility  toward  God  is  a virtue,  self- 
abasement,  in  reference  to  their  fellow-men,  is  uncalled  for  and 
injurious;  that,  in  short,  they  are  men  and  women,  and  be- 
long to  the  great  brotherhood  of  humanity.  As  the  old  Roman 
felt  a conscious  pride  in  exclaiming,  “ I am  a Roman  citizen,” 
so  such  should  indulge  a still  greater  pride  in  the  feeling,  “ I 
am  a human  being,  endowed  with  all  the  prerogatives  and 
immunities  of  humanity” — should  feel  as  Blackhawk  ex- 
pressed himself  when  brought  before  Jackson,  “ I’m  a man, 
and  you’re  another.”  You  may  reverse  this,  “ You’re  a man, 
and  I’m  another but  remember,  practically,  that  though 
others  are  men,  yet  that  you  also  are  human — that  some  of 
them  may  be  better  than  yourself,  while  others  are  worse,  but 
that  all  these  considerations — their  richness  and  your  poverty — * 
their  knowledge  and  your  ignorance — their  cultivation  and 
your  want  of  it — are  as  nothing ; that  you  are  their  human 
brothers ; have  the  same  origin,  faculties,  and  destiny,  with 
them  ; are  fed  from  the  same  great  table  of  nature  ; sustain- 
ed by  the  same  breath  of  heaven  ; alike  in  all  your  primary 
elements,  and  differ  only  in  degree,  and  perhaps  that  differ- 
ence is  in  your  favor.  In  short,  exercise  Self-Esteem  on  the 
one  hand,  and  offset  its  deficiency  by  these  and  kindred  re- 
flections on  the  other.  Above  all  things,  never  belittle  your- 
self ir.  your  own  eyes,  or  those  of  others,  by  doing  anything 
small,  mean,  low,  humiliating,  or  trifling,  but  always  carry 
and  express  yourself  with  manly  dignity  and  conscious  eleva- 
tion. Especially  walk  erect,  for  acting  out  this  faculty  will 
help  you  feel  it. 

To  cultivate  this  faculty  in  children,  throw  them  on  their 
own  resources.  Do  not  humble,  but  rather  exalt  them  in  their 
own  estimation.  Let  them  feel  that  they  are  embryo  men 
and  women,  and  are  created  for  something  noble,  and  hence 
should  fit  themselves  to  fill  some  important  station.  This  sen* 


TRAINING  OF  THE  WILL. 


225 


timent,  so  far  from  inflating,  will  rather  humble  them.  When 
they  have  perpetrated  any  mean  act,  talk  to  them  as  though 
they  should  feel  themselves  above  such  self-abasing  things. 
In  short,  develop  this  faculty  by  calling  it  into  action.  Es- 
pecially never  crush  them  by  sternness  and  severity,  or  look 
down  upon  them  so  as  to  make  them  feel  menial,  or  cheap. 
Raise,  not  depress. 

262.  SELF-GOVERNMENT,  OR  THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  WILL. 

To  one  other  adaptation  and  functional  phase  of  Self-Es- 
teem, special  attention  is  invited.  Man  is  a voluntary  being, 
endowed  with  that  self-determining  power  which  enables  him 
to  choose  or  refuse  the  evil  or  the  good.  This  iron  will, 
which  takes  the  reins  into  its  own  hands,  and  does  according 
to  its  own  pleasure,  is  the  product  in  part  of  this  faculty,  aided 
by  Secretiveness,  Firmness,  and  some  other  faculties.  Meta- 
physicians may  speculate  on  this  point  for  and  against,  yet  the 
ever-present  consciousness  of  every  human  being  assures 
us  all  that  we  are  endowed  with  power  of  choice.  We  are 
not  machines,  impelled  whithersoever  we  go  by  circumstances 
and  our  organization  260 9 but  can  resist  this  besetting  sin,  and 
do  that  virtuous  deed.  When  any  passion  becomes  unduly 
or  abnormally  excited,  there  is  a gubernatorial  power  within 
us  which  can  employ  that  principle  of  diversion  already  pre- 
sented 243,  so  as  to  discard  the  stimulant  of  the  erring  passion, 
and  set  the  other  faculties  at  work  by  placing  their  appro- 
priate food  before  them  2l5,  and  thus  restraining  the  former, 
cultivating  the  latter,  and  controlling  our  feelings  and  conduct. 
Especially  can  it  put  its  veto  on  sinful  indulgence  in  act. 
Yet  this  is  not  the  place  for  a full  discussion  or  qualification 
of  this  point.  Man  requires  and  possesses  self-control,  and 
this  faculty,  aided  by  some  others,  confers  it. 

A power  thus  important  should  by  all  means  be  assiduously 
cultivated,  from  infancy  to  old  age.  When,  or  in  what  situa- 
tion in  life,  after  we  leave  the  cradle  till  we  descend  into  the 
grave,  are  we  not  exposed  to  temptations  ? In  this  respect  all 
mankind  are  Adams  and  Eves.  Sometimes  we  are  “ drawn 
away  by  our  own  lusts,  and  enticed,”  and  sometimes  by 


226 


SELF-ESTEEM. 


others.  Our  Eves  are  of  various  kinds,  but  all  are  perpetually 
exposed  to  temptations.  All,  therefore,  require  that  shield  of 
safety  which  this  self-governing  power  alone  can  furnish* 
Then  let  it  be  exercised.  Let  us  place  it  at  the  helm  of  all 
we  say  and  do.  Will  to  do  this  and  not  to  do  that,  and  then 
do  it.  Never  yield,  no,  not  for  once,  to  the  syren  voice  of 
temptation,  because  the  more  you  do  the  more  you  may. 
Even  “if  thy  right  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out.”  Do  what, 
and  only  what,  the  higher  faculties  dictate311.  Let  them,  in 
accordance  with  their  primitive  constitution,  be  the  king  on 
the  throne,  and  will  their  sworn  executor.  But  more  on  this 
point  after  our  analysis  of  the  moral  faculties  shall  have  pre- 
pared its  way,  as  also  on  the  importance  and  means  of  strength- 
ening it  in  children. 

263.  RESTRAINT  AND  DUE  REGULATION  OF  SELF-ESTEEM. 

The  perversion  and  predominance  of  this  faculty  render 
its  possessor  proud,  egotistical,  conceited,  forward,  pompous, 
supercilious,  arbitrary,  self-willed,  and  dogmatical,  if  not  dom- 
ineering, and  should  therefore  be  checked.  The  conceited 
simpleton,  whose  likeness,  taken  from  life,  is  annexed,  though 
most  homely,  believed  himself  handsome,  and  perfectly  irre- 
sistible to  the  ladies  ; and  though  “ non  compos,”  fancied  him- 
self one  of  the  earth’s  great  men,  in  consideration  of  which  he 
allowed  his  bust  to  be  taken  ; and  though  he  could  not  sound 
fa,  sol,  la,  yet  he  thought  his  the  best  counter- voice  in  the  world. 
Those  whose  Self-Esteem  thus  predominates  should  remember 
that  their  self-conceit  often  renders  them  ridiculous,  yet  that, 
like  him,  they  do  not  see  it.  Such  should  attribute  their 
exalted  notions  of  themselves  to  their  inordinate  Self-Esteem, 
not  to  real  merit.  They  should  bear  in  mind  that,  be  their  tal- 
ents great  or  small,  they  overrate  them,  and  hence,  that  if  they 
are  ten,  they  rate  them  at  fifteen  or  twenty ; that  they  are  too 
apt  to  play  the  captain,  and  put  themselves  forward  ; that 
others  were  not  made  to  be  their  lackeys ; and  that  they  must 
suppress  this  swaggering  maimer  and  feeling.  Let  such  often 
observe  this  self-inflating  organ  at  the  crown  of  their  heads, 
and  recollect  that  their  developements  are  no  way  extraordi- 


ITS  DUE  REGULATION. 


227 


nary,  except  for  va.n-glorying ; and  if  this  does  not  humble 
them,  they  must  be  ninnies  indeed. 


SELF-LOVE  LARGE. 


No.  17.  The  Conceited  Simpleton. 


But  this  faculty  requires  right  direction  more  than  re- 
straint, because  oftener  perverted  than  excessive.  Those  who 
esteem  themselves  aright  can  not  prize  themselves  too 
highly  It  is  esteeming  ourselves  for  our  horses,  clothes, 
houses,  and  even  for  our  depraved  propensities,  which  requires 
to  be  checked.  So  infinitely  is  the  human  above  the  thing, 
that  he  must  be  small  indeed  to  whom  paltry  trinkets  can  add 
anything,  or  from  whom  their  absence  can  diminish  aught. 
As  though  being  perched  on  a little  pile  of  gold  rubbish  or 
bank  rags  could  increase  the  stature  of  manhood  226  ! “ Clod 

forbid  that  I should  glory  save  in  intellectual  jewels  and 


228 


FIRMNESS. 


moral  gems — in  what  [ am  instead  of  own.  Some  people’s 
quids  and  cigars  are  greater  than  themseves — that  is,  confer 
honor  on  them.  Such  honor  is  too  low  to  be  despised.  So 
are  most  of  those  things  for  which  men  value  themselves. 
To  such  “ my  soul,  be  not  thou  united.”  This  proud,  haughty, 
touch-me-not,  imperious,  I-am- better- than-thou,  bearing,  is 
utterly  contemptible.  Granted  that  you  are  better  than  others, 
yet  what  have  you  that  you  have  not  received  ? Then  why 
thus  vaunt  yourself  on  what  was  given  you  ? Besides,  true 
greatness  produces  humility,  not  ostentation.  No  index  of 
littleness  is  more  sure  than  this  affected  grandiloquence,  for  it 
shows  a predominance  of  Self-Esteem  over  the  higher  facul- 
ties— a sure  sign  of  intellectual  and  moral  inferiority.  Is  even 
God  condescending  to  man,  and  shall  man  be  too  proud  to 
speak  to  his  brother  man  ? Granted  that  you  are  above  them, 
should  you  not  try  to  elevate  them,  instead  of  assuming  these 
monkey  airs,  and  manifesting  this  cold  contempt  for  those  as 
good  by  nature  as  yourself?  226  When  will  men  learn  to  ex- 
change this  baboon  pride  for  that  ennobling  sentiment  designed 
by  nature  in  the  creation  of  this  faculty  ? 


14.  FIRMNESS. 

“ Perseverance  conquers  all  things.” 

264.  DEFINITION,  FUNCTION,  AND  LOCATION. 

Decision  of  character ; perseverance  ; stability  ; fixei>- 
ness  of  purpose  ; tenacity  of  opinion  ; aversion  to  change. 
Its  name  is  perfectly  expressive  of  its  function. 

Large  Firmness  is  set  in  its  own  way ; sticks  to  and  car- 
ries out  what  it  commences  ; holds  on  long  and  hard ; and 
continues  to  the  end. 

Smjll  Firmness  yields  to  difficulties;  is  easily  changed ; 
vacillating,  fickle-minded,  and  cannot  he  depended  upon. 
Located  in  260.  Large  in  John  Ordinaux,  a privateer  of  ex- 
traordinary obstinacy  of  purpose  ; but  small  in  two  of  the 
cuts  used  to  illustrate  Conscientiousness  267. 


ITS  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 


229 


15 


265.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Immutability  is  written  upon  every  law  of  nature.  God  is 
unchangeable.  And  what  disasters  would  follow  if  he  were 
not ! Can  the  everlasting  mountains  be  removed,  the  sun 
stayed,  or  any  of  nature’s  ordinances  be  arrested  ? 

Man,  too,  requires  stability  and  perseverance.  After  he 
has  sown,  he  must  wait  patiently  for  the  products  of  his  labor 
to  mature.  Many  ends  can  be  effected  only  by  long-continued 
application,  and  many  obstacles  overcome  only  by  the  labor 
of  a lifetibie.  “Perseverance  conquers  all  things,”  while 
fickleness  accomplishes  nothing,  but  undoes  to-day  what  it 
did  yesterday.  Intellectual  acquirements  are  not  the  growth 
of  a day,  or  even  year,  but  of  an  age ; and  great  moral  ex- 
cellence, unlike  Jonah’s  gourd,  does  not  spring  up  or  wither 
in  a night,  but  is  produced  by  the  habitual  practice  of  vir- 
tue from  youth  to  death  206.  Many  kinds  of  business  can  be 
rendered  profitable  only  by  expending  years  of  patient  toil  in 
20 


230 


FIRMNESS. 


building  them  up,  “ Perseverance  and  shovels  remove  moun 
tains.”  Indeed,  scarcely  any  truly  valuable  end  can  be 
brought  about  in  a hurry,  and,  in  general,  the  greater  the  good 
the  longer  the  toil  requisite  to  effect  it.  Some  obstacles  Com- 
bativeness can  overcome  with  dispatch*  yet,  in  general,  a long 
time  is  required  to  obviate  evils  and  secure  good.  To  this 
element  of  stability  in  nature,  and  demand  for  steady  perse- 
verance in  man,  Firmness  is  adapted.  Without  it  little  good 
can  be  effected,  little  evil  successfully  resisted  ; but  before  its 
iron  tread,  difficulties,  otherwise  insurmountable,  vanish,  and 
temptations  flee  abashed.  Nor  can  any  man  become  distin- 
guished for  anything  great  or  good  without  it.  A faculty 
thus  important  to  success  should  therefore  be  assiduously 
cultivated. 

To  increase  it,  consider  the  inducements  held  out  as  re- 
wards to  perseverance.  Give  up  nothing  till  it  is  completed. 
Let  no  obstacles  turn  you  from  your  proposed  course.  Have 
a mind  and  will  of  your  own,  and  never  allow  yourself  to  be 
persuaded  contrary  to  your  better  judgment.  Steadily  resist 
temptation,  and  remember  that  those  who  hold  out  unto  the 
end  alone  are  crowned.  Especially,  never  yield  in  the  least 
where  right  is  concerned.  Moral  decision  is  a virtue  of  the 
highest  order.  Firmness  and  Conscientiousoess  are  located 
side  by  side,  and  should  always  support  each  other  in  charac- 
tei.  Hope  is  also  located  upon  the  two  sides  of  the  fore  part 
of  Firmness,  so  as  to  work  in  conjunction  with  it ; and  cer- 
tainly nothing  is  calculated  to  excite  Firmness  more  than 
confident  hopes  of  success,  and  the  two  combined  form  one 
of  the  strongest  elements  of  efficiency  and  success. 

To  cultivate  it  in  youth,  be  careful  not  to  require  them  to 
do  what  they  cannot  complete,  and  not  to  allow  them  to  leave 
anything  unfinished.  Let  them  be  taught  to  accomplish  all 
they  begin.  Making  children  servile,  and  requiring  strict 
obedience,  is  apt  to  weaken  this  faculty.  The  author  knows 
a severe,  austere,  tyrannical  father,  who  has  children  whom 
he  rules  with  a rod  of  iron.  In  one  of  them,  Firmness  has 
degenerated  to  almost  nothing,  and  in  the  other  increased  to 
obstinacy,  probably  because  the  former,  a daughter,  had 


ITS  DUE  REGULATION. 


231 


her  Firmness  subdued  by  his  tyranny,  while  the  same  dis- 
cipline only  excited  and  increased  that  of  the  other  to  mulish 
stubbornness. 

Parents  should  always  hold  an  even  hand  with  their  chil- 
dren. They  should  not  be  one  thing  to-day,  and  another  to- 
morrow, but  be  uniform  in  all  their  requirements ; and  when 
they  undertake,  should  always  carry  through. 

L.  N.  Fowler  tells  a story  in  illustration  of  this  point,  much 
as  follows : Susan,  a girl  of  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  had 
invited  her  playmate,  Sarah,  to  go  that  afternoon  to  pick 
strawberries.  Sarah  came,  and  Susan  asked  her  mother’s 
permission  to  go,  but  was  refused.  Susan  plead  that  Sarah 
had  come  to  go,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  At  last,  taking  up  her 
pail  and  starting,  she  exclaimed,  “ I will  go — so  there !” 
66  Well,  if  you  will  go,  get  good  ones,”  answered  the  mother. 

A daughter  wished  to  go  to  a ball,  but  was  forbidden  by 
her  mother ; the  daughter  got  ready,  on  seeing  which  her 
mother  said,  “ Since  you  are  determined  to  go,  wrap  up 
warm.”  Things  like  these  should  never  be  allowed,  but  let 
one  uniform  line  of  conduct  be  pursued. 

Children  in  whom  this  organ  is  small  require  much  encour- 
agement to  persevere,  and  to  conquer  such  is- especially  inju- 
rious. They  are  too  easily  overcome  now,  and,  of  course, 
the  more  you  make  them  mind  the  less  firm  they  become. 
Nor  is  it  certain  that  conquering  even  obstinate  children  is 
not  injurious.  Break  down  their  iron  will  in  regard  to  your- 
self, and  you  subdue  it  in  regard  to  other  things.  A most 
excellent  watch-dog  was  spoiled  thus : — a man  laid  a wager 
that  he  could  get  a roll  of  codfish  placed  at  the  back  end  of 
an  arch  in  which  this  dog  was  chained  ; and,  by  keeping  his 
eye  sternly  fixed  with  determined  defiance  on  the  animal, 
finally  conquered  him,  after  which  he  was  comparatively  good 
for  nothing.  This  is  true  of  all  dogs,  of  all  animals,  and 
equally  of  man — is,  in  fact,  a law  of  Firmness.  Hence  the 
spirit  even  of  obstinate  boys  should  not  be  crushed,  because 
this  tames  them  down  for  life.  Nor  can  I regard  obstinacy 
in  children  as  so  very  bad  after  all,  because  it  betokens  that 
Roman  Firmness  and  indomitable  perseverance  so  essential 


232 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 


to  future  success,  and  to  subdue  this  will  is  to  well  nigh  spoil 
them.  Without  it  they  are  good  for  nothing,  but  the  more  they 
possess  the  better,  provided  it  is  rightly  directed.  Rather 
persuade  them  to  will  right  than  to  crush  their  wills — a point, 
however,  to  be  discussed  hereafter. 

266.  ITS  RESTRAINT  AND  RIGHT  DIRECTION. 

But  some  persons  are  mulishly  stubborn.  They  will  not 
see  their  errors,  or,  seeing,  change.  Such,  indeed  all,  should 
be  especially  careful  not  to  decide  till  they  are  sure  they  are 
right,  nor  ever  commence  anything  not  best.  They  should 
then  hold  themselves  open  to  conviction  and  correction,  and 
remember  that  their  excessive  Firmness  is  liable  to  so  blind 
their  intellects  that  they  cannot  perceive  the  full  force  of  evi- 
dence brought  against  them,  that  they  are  too  hard  to  be  con- 
vinced, too  inflexible,  etc.  In  short,  they  should  subject  their 
Firmness  to  their  reason,  prudence,  justice,  and  other  facul- 
ties 216.  Still,  of  well-directed  Firmness,  no  one  can  have  too 
much. 


L5.  CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 

“ Let  justice  reign,  though  heaven  falls.” 

267.  DEFINITION,  FUNCTION,  AND  LOCATION. 

Perception  and  love  of  right  ; moral  principle  ; innate 
sense  of  accountability  and  obligation  ; integrity  ; love 
of  justice  and  truth  ; regard  for  duty,  promises,  etc. ; de- 
sire for  moral  purity  and  excellence  ; that  internal  monitor 
which  approves  the  right  and  condemns  the  wrong  ; sense 
of  guilt  ; desire  to  reform  ; contrition  ; forgiveness. 

Large  Conscientiousness  loves  the  right  as  right,  and  hates 
the  wrong  because  wrong ; is  honest,  faithful,  upright  in  mo- 
tive, and  means  well ; consults  duty  before  expediency  ; feels 
guihy  when  conscious  of  having  done  wrong ; and  desires  to 
reform  and  be  forgiven. 

Small  Conscientiousness  sometimes  sacrifices  duty  on  the 
altar  of  indulgence,  and  temporizes  with  moral  principle  ; jus- 


ITS  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 


233 


tifies  itself;  and  is  not  particularly  penitent  or  forgiving. 
Located  on  the  two  sides  of  the  back  part  of  Firmness.  The 
several  forms  given  to  the  head  when  these  two  organs  are 
large  and  small,  are  well  represented  in  the  accompanying 
cuts. 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS  LARGE  I CONSCIENTIOUSNESS  SMALL 
AND  FIRMNESS  SMALL.  | AND  FIRMNESS  LARGE. 


*268.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

“ Thrice  armed  is  he  who  hath  his  quarrel  just.” 

There  is  a right,  and  its  violation  constitutes  a wrong. 
These  elements  are  founded  in  the  primitive  constitution  of 
things,  and  form  an  integral  part  of  nature,  as  much  as  bulk 
or  beauty.  But  for  this  arrangement,  no  action  or  feeling 
could  possess  any  moral  character  whatever,  nor  could  any 
conception  of  right  or  wrong  exist. 

Man,  also,  is  endowed  with  a moral  eye  for  perceiving  this 
moral  element,  as  with  Causality  for  perceiving  the  existence 
of  laws542,  and  Form  for  taking  cognizance  of  shape  432,  This 
moral  sense  phrenologists  call  Conscientiousness.  Its  ex- 
istence in  man,  therefore,  renders  him  a moral  being,  and, 
by  consequence,  accountable,  rewardable,  and  punishable — 
satellite  attendants  on  this  element.  This  moral  constitution 
is  inwrought  into  the  very  texture  of  his  mind,  and  inter- 
woven with  most  which  he  says,  does,  and  is.  He  can  no 
more  help  regarding  right  as  right,  and  wrong  as  wrong,  or 
approving  the  former  and  condemning  the  latter,  than  seeing 
20* 


234 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 


what  he  looks  at,  or  fearing  death,  or  being  hungry  when  de- 
prived of  food.  Nor  can  he  escape  out  of  its  rightful  domin- 
ion. All  his  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds,  are  rendered  by  this 
moral  element  of  his  nature,  either  right  or  wrong — right 
when  they  conform  to  the  laws  of  his  being,  or  are  normal  208, 
wrong  when  they  violate  them,  or  are  unnatural.  “ All  he 
says,  does,  and  is, 55  because  every  exercise  of  every  organ  and 
function  of  his  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  nature  has 
its  laws,  which  it  must  violate,  or  to  which  conform ; so  that, 
“ whether  we  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  we  do,”  we  fulfil 
or  break  some  fundamental  ordinance  of  nature.  The  com- 
monly received  idea  that  a great  many  of  our  actions  and 
feelings,  especially  those  which  appertain  to  the  body,  are 
neither  right  nor  wrong,  is  therefore  erroneous.  Every  mo- 
tion we  make,  every  breath  we  draw — all  our  thoughts  and 
feelings  from  first  to  last — fulfil  or  violate  those  laws  which 
govern  their  constitution,  and  are  therefore  right  or  wrong, 
and  hence  fit  subjects  for  rewards  and  punishments — in  fact, 
actually  do  reward  and  punish  themselves7.  The  sweep  and 
minuteness  of  this  phrenological  view  of  right  almost  infinitely 
exceeds  that  taken  by  the  most  rigid  theologian,  yet  is  as  true 
as  universal. 

This  element  is  also  not  tame  or  feeble,  but  imperative,  and 
clothed  with  authority.  Man  feels  that  right  is  sovereign, 
and  wrong  odious.  How  powerful  an  ally  an  approving  con- 
science ! How  inexorable  its  condemnations ! How  crest- 
fallen and  feeble  he  who  feels  that  he  is  in  the  wrong ! But 
as  strong  and  “ bold  as  a lion”  they  who  fulfil  its  mandates. 
Conscientiousness  is  the  queen-bee — the  premier  of  the  human 
soul.  All  the  other  faculties  are  only  advisers  or  subjects. 
Its  edicts  are  “ supreme  law,”  its  sentence  final.  Even  small 
Conscientiousness,  unperverted  or  stifled,  possesses  an  innate 
vim  or  power  to  hold  in  check  far  larger  propensities ; nor  can 
the  latter  escape  the  dominion  or  rebel  successfully  against 
the  former  without  either  coaxing  it  into  connivance  by  palli- 
ating excuses,  or  encroaching  by  little  upon  it  till  they  at 
length  bind  it  hand  and  foot  and  cast  it  out. 

But  wo  to  those  who  do  this.  That  powerful  aid  which  it 


AN  APPROVING  CONSCIENCE. 


235 


brings  to  all  the  other  faculties,  they  lose.  That  tight  rem 
which  it  holds  on  otherwise  unbridled  lust,  they  sever.  The 
brightest  jewel  set  in  the  centre  of  the  crown  of  humanity 
they  tear  out  and  cast  before  swine,  and  leave  a disgusting 
gangrene  in  its  place.  What  can  that  speaker  say — however 
clear  his  logic  or  classical  his  diction  matters  not — who  has 
no  bioral  pathos,  who  enforces  no  right,  opposes  no  wrong? 
It  is  to  tongue  and  pen  what  steam  is  to  the  locomotive — the 
prime  mover  even  of  intellect,  whose  energy  it  redoubles. 
And  how  much  more  powerful  Combativeness,  when  arrayed 
against  the  wrong  or  defending  the  right  ? friendship  when 
cemented,  and  love  when  it  glows,  with  moral  principle,  than 
without  this  moral  sanction  ? And  thus  of  every  other  fac- 
ulty. Incalculably  does  it  electrify  the  entire  man  when  it 
sanctions,  and  palsy  when  it  condemns. 

Clean  hands  and  a vigorous  conscience  are  then  indispen- 
sable to  success  in  every  department  of  life.  And  then  how 
delightful  its  approval ! how  soul-withering  its  condemnation  ! 
Nothing  as  terrible  but  the  frowns  of  offended  Heaven  ! In- 
deed, this  is  His  frown — its  approval,  His  smiles. 

Every  human  being  should  therefore  cultivate  as  powerful 
an  auxiliary  to  success,  as  heavenly  an  attendant.  We  should 
inquire  touching  everything  we  say,  and  do,  and  feel,  “Is  this 
right  ? is  that  wrong  ?”  and  utterly  refuse  all  participation 
in  what  is  not.  In  other  words,  all  should  see  to  it  as  a car- 
dinal pre-requisition  that  all  their  thoughts,  feelings,  and  ac- 
tions are  in  accordance  with  their  primitive  constitution,  and 
that  every  faculty  and  function  of  mind  and  body  is  always 
exercised  in  strict  conformity  with  its  creation  and  normal 
end.  Then  will  they  all  be  right,  and  our  happiness  com- 
plete. Man,  in  his  present  low  estate,  cannot  conceive  the 
beatific  joys  which  would  follow  obedience  to  this  law  of  his 
nature,  nor  the  anguish  and  agony  consequent  on  its  infraction. 

Shall  we  then  stifle  this  heavenly  monitor,  thus  kindly  sent 
down  to  us  from  heaven  to  prepare  us  for  its  blessedness  ? 
Shall  we  sear  its  delicate  susceptibilities  by  insult  and  rebel- 
lion ? Shall  we  trample  into  the  very  dust  this  premier  of 
God  and  our  rightful  sovereign — this  most  sacred  emotion 


236 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 


implanted  in  the  human  soul  ? Whosoever  offendeth  it,  offend* 
eth  Infinite  Justice,  and  sinneth  against  the  moral  constitution 
of  the  universe  ! To  do  wrong  is  not  so  light  a matter,  nor 
right  so  insignificant.  We  stifle  its  sanctions  at  our  peril, 
but  to  obey  it  is  better  than  sacrifice.  Nothing  degrades  and 
debases  humanity  equally  with  doing  wrong.  O keep  this 
jewel  of  the  soul  unstained  by  sin  ! Yet,  alas  ! how  low  in 
this  scale  of  moral  principle  is  mankind  sunk  ! See  him  igno- 
rant of  its  requirements,  and  living  in  shameless  violation  of 
its  mandates ! Behold  him  even  justifying  falsehood,  knav- 
ery, fighting,  murdering — and  that  by  wholesale — licentious- 
ness, and  all  manner  of  outrages,  on  the  ground  of  expe- 
diency ! Hear  that  lying  merchant  and  dishonest  trader  pro- 
claim his  own  shame — “ an  honest  business-man  would  starve !” 
Hear  that  war-captain  and  political  stock-jobber  urge  the  ne- 
cessity of  human  slaughter,  though  life  is  most  inviolate  ! 336 
Behold  that  young  libertine  arguing  the  necessity  of  sensuality 
on  the  score  of  health  ! As  though  right  clashed  with  interest  * 
As  though  Heaven’s  laws  conflicted  ! Does  God  punish  us 
for  dealing  justly,  for  obeying  his  laws  1 6 7 As  though  hon- 
esty was  not  policy ; whereas  the  more  exactly  rigid  one’s 
integrity,  the  greater  his  success — the  reward  of  obeying  the 
law  of  moral  rectitude.  Dishonesty  may  make  a dollar 
to-day,  but  will  prevent  the  acquirement  of  hundreds  here- 
after. “ Burnt  children  dread  the  fire.”  With  a business- 
man who  overreaches  you  once,  you  never  deal  again,  or  if 
you  do,  are  simple.  Let  a firm  once  obtain  a reputation  for 
strict  integrity — for  selling  as  cheap  as  if  the  purchaser  were 
watching  them — and  all  who  knew  them  would  deal  exclu- 
sively with  them.  Would  country  merchants  spend  so  much 
time  and  money  in  going  to  cities  after  goods,  if  they  knew 
only  a single  house  which  they  could  implicitly  trust  ? Such 
a house  would  monopolize  the  entire  business  of  the  country, 
because  all  purchasers  could  order  so  much  cheaper  and 
better  than  go.  No  error  is  greater  than  that  integrity  is 
incompatible  with  business.  On  the  contrary,  nothing  equally 
promotes  worldly  prosperity. 

And  even  in  case  they  conflicted,  must  Conscientiousness 


HONESTY  IS  POLICY. 


237 


succumb  to  Acquisitiveness  ? Rather  let  conscience  oe  king 
and  propensity  subject211.  “ Let  justice  reign  though  heaven 
falls.”  Rather  starve  than  live  on  the  wages  of  sin.  Would 
not  the  abandoned  sutler  less  to  die  outright,  than  to  live  as 
they  do,  waxing  worse  and  more  wretched  daily,  because  they 
live  by  sinning  ? Gamblers  have  already  been  mentioned. 
In  just  so  far  as  a man  makes  money  dishonestly,  does  that 
money  curse,  and  not  bless211.  The  unalterable  laws  of 
nature  compel  this  issue.  Inflexible  “ cause  and  effect” 
secures  this  result  in  every  form,  every  degree  of  application. 
“ Though  heaven  and  earth  should  pass  away,”  yet  this  ordi- 
nance of  nature  must  stand  to  all  eternity.  Righteousness, 
then,  can  never  clothe  a man  with  rags,  but  will  feed  and 
clothe  even  every  beggar  and  their  children.  Nature  will 
not  let  those  suffer  who  obey  her  laws,  nor  those  go  unpun- 
ished who  violate  them67.  Yet  no  concatenation  or  aggrava- 
tion of  suffering  should  be  allowed  to  dethrone  rectitude. 
The  very  consciousness  of  having  done  right  is  more  than 
meat  and  drink,  and  infinitely  surpasses  all  “ the  wages  of 
sin  ;”  whereas  the  goadings  of  a guilty  conscience  are  poison 
in  the  bones  and  “ hell  fire  ” to  the  soul. 

Young  man  in  search  of  business,  first  choose  an  honest 
one.  Ask  not  “ Is  it  lucrative,”  or  “ respectable,”  or  “ easy,” 
or  even  “ lawful ;”  but  “ Is  it  just  ?”  And  shrink  with  hor- 
ror from  whatever  is  not,  be  its  prospects  or  its  emoluments 
what  they  may.  “ Seek  first  ” righteousness,  and  all  else 
“ shall  be  added  unto  you.”  Next  prosecute  it,  in  all  its  rela- 
tions, with  rigid  justice.  Let  no  considerations  whatever 
induce  you  to  deviate  in  the  least  therefrom,  and  besides  an 
approving  conscience — itself  a treasure  infinitely  richer  than  all 
worldly  possessions — temporal  prosperity  is  guaranteed  to  you 
by  ihe  fiat  of  nature.  But  an  unjust  youth  must  ultimately  fail. 

And  ye  who  are  prosecuting  a dishonest  business,  quit  it  at 
once.  Die  rather  than  do  another  dishonest  thing.  You  sell 
right  at  your  peril.  You  may  perhaps  get  your  thirty  pieces 
of  silver,  yet  it  will  be  the  price  of  moral  blood,  and  will 
sooner  or  later  hurl  you  to  destruction. 

Ye,  too,  who  prosecute  an  honest  business  dishonestly  are 


238 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 


as  consummate  fools  as  sinners.  Cut  both  sin  and  folly  short 
at  once.  Your  transgression  of  this  cardinal  law  of  nature 
is  without  even  excuse.  Remember,  Honesty,  all  honesty, 
and  nothing  but  rigid  honesty,  is  policy,  here  and  hereafter. 

And  let  us  all,  be  our  pursuits  what  they  may,  place  en- 
lightened conscience  on  the  throne,  and  implicitly  fulfil  all  its 
requirements,  from  the  greatest  even  unto  the  least.  Let  us 
do  our  whole  duty  toward  man,  and  especially  toward  God, 
by  fulfilling  his  laws.  They  were  not  made  to  be  neglected 
or  violated,  but  to  be  obeyed.  And  O how  inconceivably  holy 
and  happy  will  such  obedience  render  us ! 

Those  in  whom  this  organ  is  small,  should  remember  that, 
therefore,  they  are  comparatively  blind  to  their  faults ; that, 
especially  if  Self-Esteem  be  large,  they  generally  carry  the 
bag  containing  their  errors  behind  them,  rarely  see  it,  and 
when  they  do,  are  apt  to  smooth  them  over  by  forming  flimsy 
excuses,  and  justify  themselves  unduly;  that  they  are  self- 
righteous,  and  hence  more  guilty  than  they  suppose,  because 
Self-Esteem  parries  the  feeble  thrusts  of  Conscientiousness, 
and  throws  the  mantle  of  extenuating  circumstances  over 
much  which  should  occasion  self-condemnation.  Bear  in 
mind,  that  your  not  feeling  guilty  is  no  sign  that  you  are 
not ; because,  other  things  being  equal,  the  smaller  this  faculty 
the  feebler  its  compunctions,  yet  the  greater  the  occasion  for 
them.  If  this  faculty  were  larger,  you  would  feel  greater 
self-condemnation  for  the  same  sins,  and  often  relent  where 
you  now  justify  yourself.  Be  more  penitent.  Be  less  self- 
righteous.  Recollections  like  these  will  enable  you  in  some 
measure  to  obviate  this  blemish.  In  short,  the  greater  its  de- 
ficiency the  more  habitual  should  be  its  exercise. 

This  faculty  is  blunted  by  whatever  pains  it — by  being  im- 
posed upon,  as  well  as  by  our  doing  unjustly.  Dwelling  upon 
wrongs  done  us,  is  very  apt  to  make  us  foel  that,  since  others 
are  so  wicked,  we  may  as  well  be  like  them.  Many  a one 
has  been  thus  case-hardened,  and  rendered  dishonest  by  being 
abused.  Hence,  when  others  wrong  us,  we  should  not  dwell 
upon  our  grievances,  but  turn  our  minds  to  other  subjects. 
This  direction  is  one  of  great  practical  importance. 


ITS  DEVELOPMENT  IN  YOUTH. 


239 


Tlie  assiduity  with  which  this  faculty  should  be  cultivated 
in  youth,  is  commensurate  with  the  exalted  blessings  it  con- 
fers. 1 have  found  this  organ  large  in  nearly  every  child’s 
head  I have  ever  examined.  Yet  it  is  often  small  in  adults — 
declines  in  consequence  of  sheer  inaction  213 — an  astounding, 
an  awful  fact ! Nature  bestows  enough  of  this  element  on 
every  human  being,  to  render  him  scrupulously  moral  and 
just.  Its  existing  woful  deficiency  is  our  fault,  not  hers. 
We  bury  this  talent  of  talents  in  the  napkin  of  public  and 
private  injustice,  and  waste  or  lose  it.  It  does  not  average 
half,  if  a quarter  as  large  in  adults  as  the  young.  Nor  is 
there  any  other  solution  of  this  sad  fact,  palpable  to  all  ob- 
servers, than  its  non-exercise.  Children,  seeing  others  do 
wrong,  themselves  commence  to  tamper  with  this  heavenly 
gift,  and  gradually  yet  effectually  wear  it  away.  O parents, 
be  entreated  to  arrest  this  downward  tendency.  It  should 
“grow  with  their  growth,  and  strengthen  with  their  strength,” 
and  would  if  duly  called  into  requisition.  It  must  be  fed 
with  its  appropriate  nutriment 2I5.  Their  attention  must  be 
often  called  to  the  right  and  wrong  of  what  they  say  and  do. 
Nor  is  any  other  means  as  effectual  for  subduing  their  wayward 
propensities.  Show  them  intellectually,  and  make  them  feel 
morally,  that  this  is  right  and  that  wrong,  and  they  will  no 
more  dare  to  neglect  the  former,  or  perpetrate  the  latter,  than 
to  thrust  their  hands  into  fire. 

Mothers,  in  particular,  should  be  ever  on  the  watch,  while 
their  children  are  at  play  about  them,  to  check  any  encroach- 
ment of  one  upon  the  rights  of  the  others,  every  instance  of 
deception  in  word  and  deed,  all  in  any  way  wrong,  not  so 
much  by  the  whip  as  by  this  “ rod  of  the  Almighty,”  thus  put 
into  their  hands.  Press  their  consciences,  not  merely  with 
accusations  when  they  do  wrong,  but  especially  lay  its  flatter- 
ing unction  to  their  souls  when  they  do  right.  Call  attention 
to  the  exquisite  pleasure  they  feel  in  having  done  their  duty, 
and  they  will  do  right  again.  Show  how  miserable  doing 
wrong  renders  them,  and  they  will  avoid  it  in  future,  for  the 
same  reason  that  “ a burnt  child  dreads  the  fire.”  Nor  will 
any  other  preventive,  except  its  sister,  Veneration,  at  all  com- 


240 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 


pare  with  this.  Rightly  applied,  it  is  a moral  panacea.  O 
parents,  note  and  practice  this  sacred  prescription ! 

Especially  should  parents  be  careful  not  to  wrong  their 
children  in  the  least,  because,  as  just  seen  in  the  case  of 
adults,  such  injustice  wounds  and  callouses  their  consciences, 
as  well  as  sets  them  a pernicious  example.  Nor  this  merely, 
but  the  parent  should  be  so  clearly  right  as  that  their  young 
consciences  will  be  on  his  side.  Being  strictly  just  to  them, 
excites  this  justice-loving  element  in  them,  and  also  sets  an 
example  which  they  may  follow ; and  even  when  chided  youth 
think  they  are  right  but  are  not,  they  become  hardened  unless 
convinced  of  their  error.  Especially,  never  punish  them  for 
doing  wrong  until  you  have  gained  their  consciences  in  your 
favor,  and  made  them  feel  guilty,  and  that  they  therefore 
deserve  punishment ; else  the  same  hardening  effects  follow 
which  attend  being  wronged.  But  of  this  whole  subject  of 
punishment  hereafter.  Yet,  whether  you  punish  or  not,  do 
not  fail  to  arraign  all  their  actions  and  feelings  before  the 
solemn  tribunal  of  right  and  duty.  Try  to  make  them  love 
their  duty,  and  to  do  it  because  it  is  duty.  Never  buy  or 
flatter  them  to  do  it,  because  they  will  come  to  feel  that  they 
must  be  paid  for  everything,  but  let  it  stand  on  its  own  naked 
authority,  Let  them  be  trained  to  feel  that  duty  is  para- 
mount— that  to  do  right,  will  render  them  almost  infinitely 
more  happy  than  any  money  or  toy  they  could  possess. 
Against  this  hiring  children  to  do  right  I solemnly  protest. 

269.  HUMAN  ACCOUNTABILITY  AND  GUILT. 

Many  object  to  Phrenology,  because,  say  they,  “ It  destroys 
free  agency ; makes  men  mere  machines — the  passive  ser- 
vants of  their  dominant  developments — and  therefore  alike 
excusable  for  all  their  vices,  and  none  the  better  on  account 
of  any  of  their  virtues,  since  they  can  help  neither  ; because, 
for  what  they  are  fated — organically  compelled  to  do  and 
become — they  can  neither  be  guilty  on  the  one  hand,  nor  de- 
serving on  the  other.’’  If  the  science  I idolize  really  taugh. 
this  abominable  doctrine  of  fatality,  Calvinist  by  education 
though  I am,  I would  repudiate  and  condemn  it.  Against 


HUMAN  ACCOUNTABILITY  AND  GUILT. 


241 


this,  against  all  guilt-extenuating  doctrines,  I uncompromis- 
ingly protest.  I would  rivet,  not  unloose,  the  chains  of 
moral  obligation.  And  Phrenology  does  this  in  the  most  effect- 
ual manner  possible.  It  does  not  argue  that  man  is  person- 
ally accountable,  but  proves  it.  It  demonstrates  the  exist- 
ence and  function  of  Conscientiousness,  as  above  analyzed 2G8, 
and  thus  renders  human  accountability  certain,  from  scien- 
tific data.  It  leaves  no  cloud  to  obscure  this  point.  Its 
proof  is  absolute.  It  is  this : The  existence  of  feet  renders 
man  a walking  being,  and  proves  him  to  be  such  ; of  ears  a 
hearing,  of  eyes  a seeing,  of  nerves  a sentient,  and  of  brain 
a mental  being,  and  so  of  all  his  other  physical  organs  and 
functions.  Phrenology  admitted,  what  higher  proof  that  man 
is  a friendly  being  than  his  possession  of  Adhesiveness  ; that 
he  is  an  eating  being  than  that  he  has  Alimentiveness  ; a talk- 
ing being  than  his  endowment  with  Language ; a reasoning 
being  than  his  being  constituted  with  reasoning  powers  ? Can 
any  order,  any  amount  of  proof — can  even  mathematical 
demonstration — render  anything  more  absolutely  certain  ? 
Then  does  not  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  Conscientiousness  in 
him,  as  forming  a part  and  parcel  of  his  primitive  constitu- 
tion, both  prove  and  render  him  a moral,  accountable  being, 
and  therefore  not  merely  a fit  but  a necessary  subject  of 
rewards  and  punishments  ? Is  that  two  and  two  are  four 
more  self-evident  than  that  human  conduct  and  character — all 
we  say,  do,  and  are,  or  can  be- — are  moral  or  immoral,  right  or 
wrong,  virtuous  or  guilty  ? What  can  nail  man  down  to  the 
fact  that  he  is  accountable,  as  effectually  as  this  existence  in 
him  of  Conscientiousness  ? All  other  proofs,  compared  with 
this  are  sand  ropes ; this  the  mighty  cable  of  nature.  Read 
this  chapter,  and  then  say  how  ignorant,  or  else  wicked,  our 
accusers.  But  we  “ forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do. 55  Yet  they  ought  not  to  do  without  knowing. 

Again  : has  not  a former  section  proved  that  the  organs  can 
be  enlarged  by  action,  and  diminished  by  inaction  ? 213  And 
does  not  this  admitted  law  of  phrenological  science  blow  this 
stupid  objection  to  atoms  ? What  is  its  practical  language  to 
those  who  have  less  favorable  developments,  commonly  called 
21 


242 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 


“bad  heads  ?55  It  seizes  them  by  the  throat  of  personal  ac* 
countability,  and  thunders  in  their  ears,  “ Why  have  you 

INDULGED  YOUR  PROPENSITIES  AND  NOT  EXERCISED  YOUR  HIGHER 

faculties  till  the  former  have  acquired  siach  gigantic  strength, 
and  the  latter  been  subdued  by  a lifetime  of  conquest  and 
tyranny  ? Stop  your  guilty  career  now,  and  cultivate  the 
former,  but  remove  exciting  causes  from  the  latter215  till  the 
required  ascendency  of  the  higher  guides  and  governs  the 
lower.55  Search  the  universe,  but  it  will  be  in  vain  for  a more 
potent  personal  accuser  than  either  of  these  laws  separately,  or 
both  together,  furnish.  They  tell  the  wicked  in  the  name  of 
science,  and  therefore  of  absolute  certainty,  that  they  have 
no  business  to  have  bad  heads ; that  they  owe  their  depraved 
passions,  claimed  to  be  ungovernable,  to  themselves — to  their 
own  wicked  indulgence  of  them,  not  to  their  organs ; and 
does  not  this  amputate  all  excuse  ? Does  it  leave  the  forlorn 
sinner  even  a straw  to  save  his  being  drowned  in  guilt  ? 

It  is,  indeed,  admitted  and  proved  by  Phrenology  that  “like 
parents  like  children55 — that  predominant  propensities  and 
weak  moral  and  intellectual  organs  in  parents  transmit  similar 
organic  conditions  to  their  offspring — but  this  only  shifts  the 
responsibility  from  children  to  parents,  and  accords  perfectly 
with  “ visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children.55 
Yet  even  this  is  obviated  by  the  fact  that  none  can  be  so 
bad,  but  that,  by  the  proper  cultivation  of  the  higher  faculties, 
and  removing  stimulants  from  the  lower,  they  can  be  rendered 
virtuous  and  happy  members  of  society.  God  will  not  let 
those  come  into  being  who  are  so  low  in  the  scale  of  morals  as 
to  be  incapacitated  for  both  goodness  and  enjoyment — a point 
fully  established  in  the  author’s  work  entitled  “ Hereditary 
Descent,55  and  there  applied  to  physical  as  well  as  moral 
maladies. 

It  has  also  just  been  shown  that  Conscientiousness  possesses 
an  innate  sovereignty  by  which  it  can  govern  propensities 
much  stronger  than  itself.  This  is  equally  true  of  all  the  other 
moral  organs,  and  also  of  the  reasoning.  But  enough.  This 
spurious  but  oft  reiterated  objection  is  fully  silenced  by  either 
of  these  answers  separately,  and  annihilated  by  them  all  coB 


MAN  A MORAL  BEING. 


243 


leutively.  Taken  together,  they  enforce  personal  accounta- 
bility and  the  guilt  of  wrong  doings  with  a sweep  and  power 
incomparably  above  all  other  motives.  Nor  should  we  have 
digressed — if  digression  it  be — merely  to  answer  this  objec- 
tion, for  our  aim  is  self-improvement,  not  to  refute  cavillers ; 
but  have  introduced  and  refuted  this  objection  mainly  to  make 
every  reader  see  and  feel  that  he  is  guilty — condemned 
and  sentenced  at  the  tribunal  of  his  own  soul — for  every 
wrong  thought,  word,  and  deed.  Apologies  are  not  heard  at 
this  tribunal.  “ The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die.”  This 
principle  grasps  every  human  being — for  all  have  Conscien- 
tiousness— in  this  moral  vice,  and  arraigns,  condemns,  and 
executes.  Escape  is  utterly  precluded  : 66  Thou  art  the  man.” 
You,  and  I,  and  all  flesh,  are  amenable,  for  every  sin  we  com- 
mit ; that  is,  for  all  our  transgressions  of  all  the  laws  of  our 
being  6 7.  Ay,  and  punished  too.  Ignorance  is  no  apology. 
Nature  imperiously  commands  all  who  do  not  know  to  learn, 
and  equally  proffers  instruction  to  all,  saint  and  sinner,  sage 
and  savage.  All  the  most  ignorant  have  to  do  is  to  follow  her 
teachings26 — and  they  are  palpable  as  the  noonday  sun — 
and  the  wisest  can  know  or  do  no  more.  And  I put  the  ques- 
tion to  the  conscience  of  every  reader,  Does  not  every  page 
of  this  work  presuppose,  and  powerfully  and  practically  en- 
force, personal  accountability,  and  therefore  as  it  were  lay 
hold  of  every  one  of  you,  and  drag  you  along  into  the  king- 
dom of  self-improvement  ? What  is  our  title  even  ? Is  that 
fatalism  ? Does  that  imply  that  what  we  are  we  cannot  help 
being  ? Does  this  chapter  on  Conscientiousness  tell  you  that 
you  cannot  do  other  than  your  organs  make  you  ? 

Yet,  curious  as  it  may  seem,  the  very  advocates  of  rank 
fatalism  are  loudest  in  their  condemnation  of  Phrenology  for 
teaching,  as  they  erroneously  say  it  does,  this  very  doctrine 
which  forms  the  “ pillar  and  ground  of  their  faith.”  At  Man- 
chester, N.  H.,  the  last  day  of  1843,  I heard  a rank  old-school 
Calvinist,  of  the  Congregational  church  of  that  place,  preach 
on  predestination — that  all  mankind  are  by  nature  so  very 
bad  that  all  they  can  do  is  of  no  avail,  but  all  must  be  eter- 
nally damned  except  the  elect,  and  much  to  the  same  effect. 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 


244 

He  reiterated  the  same  paralyzing  doctrine  :n  the  evening, 
and  wound  off  by  exhorting  sinners  to  “ make  their  calling 
and  election  sure  ” by  “ striving  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate.” 
That  is,  he  exhorted  all  to  strive  because  the  salvation  of  the 
elect  and  the  damnation  of  the  rest  are  decreed  “ from  the 
foundations  of  the  world,”  irrespective  of  all  they  have  done  or 
can  possibly  do.  That  is,  he  exhorted  them  to  strive  with 
all  their  might  to  “ make  their  calling  sure,”  because  it  was 
sure  anyhow — to  work  like  heroes  because  they  could  not 
do,  if  they  tried,  and  because  if  they  did  do,  it  did  no  good. 
Yet  I was  so  very  a dunce  that  I could  not  perceive  in  his 
becauses  the  least  motive  for  effort,  but  thought  I saw — how- 
ever, it  was  probably  because  I had  not  sense  enough  to  put 
his  this  and  that  together — the  strongest  possible  motive  for 
not  doing  a thing.  As  he  descended  from  his  exalted  station, 
I was  introduced  to  him  as  a phrenologist ; and  his  first  remark, 
which  he  reiterated,  was,  c<I?m  afraid  of  your  science,  because 
it  leads  to  fatalism.  It  compels  bad  men  to  be  bad.  They 
cannot  help  themselves  ”— the  very  doctrine,  the  one-idea,  he 
had  preached  all  day  long  to  enforce.  “ Hypocrite  or  bigot,” 
thought  I,  “ you  abhor  out  of  the  pulpit  what  in  it  you  proclaim 
as  4 the  great  salvation,5  besides  accusing  Phrenology  wrong- 
fully.” No  opposition  to  this  science  at  all  compares  with 
that  of  these  old  blue-stocking  fatalists,  and  the  head  and  front 
of  their  holy  horror  of  it  is  that  it  confirms  this  polestar  of  their 
faith ! Out  upon  such  saps  or  bigots ! Learn  more  of  our 
science,  or  condemn  less.  Rut  to  return. 

270.  RIGHT  DIRECTION  OF  CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 

That  this  faculty  can  become  too  active,  so  as  to  require 
restraint,  is  not  asserted,  but  that  it  can  become  diseased,  and 
condemn  unnecessarily,  and  even  for  things  right  in  them- 
selves, is  an  experimental  fact.  In  1843,  a clergyman,  in 
whom  this  organ  is  very  large,  consulted  me,  professionally, 
mainly  to  inquire  whether  he  was  as  wicked  as  he  felt  him- 
self to  be,  or  whether  his  self-condemnations  were  unfounded, 
I requested  him  to  specify.  He  said  that  mornings  after 
preaching,  he  often  desired  to  lie  in  bed.  and  sometimes  in» 


ITS  RIGHT  DIRECTION. 


245 


dulged  ; but  when  he  did  so,  his  conscience  rendered  him 
indescribably  wretched  ; and  thus  of  many  similar  things 
which  he  did — for  evil  thoughts  which  might  enter  his  mind, 
yet  were  at  once  banished — and  thus  of  kindred  things  innu- 
merable. I asked  him  whether  he  usually  slept  well  those 
nights  before  he  felt  like  hugging  his  morning  pillow.  He 
answered,  “ No ; the  blood  courses  through  my  brain,  and 
my  mind  wanders  to  and  fro  on  everything,  and  is  absolutely 
uncontrollable,  till  midnight,  perhaps  dawn  of  day.”  “ Then 
it  is  right  and  duty  to  sleep  mornings,  for  sleep  you  must 
have,”  I replied — “ and  not  only  so,  but  many  of  your  other 
compunctions  result  from  abnormal  and  partially-inflamed  Con- 
scientiousness ; that  is,  this  organ  is  a little  fevered  or  sick, 
and  should  not,  therefore,  be  heeded,”  and  explained  the  prin. 
ciple  established  in  69  209,  and  some  others,  to  substantiate  this 
as  a law  of  things. 

Undoubtedly  many  readers  suffer  similarly,  and  from  a like 
cause — feel  conscience-stricken,  as  though  they  were  all  moral 
filth  and  pollution — not  because  they  are  so,  but  because  this 
organ,  being  irritated  or  slightly  inflamed,  condemns  unduly, 
and  often  for  what  is  right.  This  self-loathing  and  abhorrence 
is  still  farther  increased  if  Self-Esteem  and  Hope  are  small, 
and  Cautiousness  and  Veneration  large.  David  Brainard’s 
and  Edward  Paysoh’s  religious  gloom  had,  in  part,  this  cere- 
bral cause.  Payson  called  on  a friend  of  the  author  in  Boston, 
and  before  tea  was  mourning  over  the  sins  of  the  church,  and 
his  own  “ wicked  heart,”  most  piteously.  A cup  of  strong 
tea  was  served  him  on  purpose  to  cheer  him  up.  He  was 
very  fond  of  this  beverage  and  drank  unusually  freely,  after 
which  the  church  was  all  right,  and  he  was  on  Pisgah’s  top, 
and  preached  one  of  his  best  sermons  that  evening.  The  ex- 
planation is  this.  His  nerves  were  disordered ; hence  his 
melancholy156,  and  of  course  his  moral  organs,  being  very 
large,  produced  religious  compunctions.  But  his  strong  tea 
excited  his  nerves  and  exhilarated  his  moral  organs,  and  hence 
his  religious  comfort  and  exaltation  after  it  began  to  operate. 
Many  pious  Irinkers  of  strong  tea  may  see  themselves  in  this 
glass  if  they  will  look,  and  many  others  will  find  in  the  prxn- 


246 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 


ciple  here  involved  both  the  cause  and  cure  of  their  moral 
maladies.  If  their  nerves  were  healthy  their  self-condemna- 
tions would  be  less,  though  their  sins  were  the  same.  Their 
self-loathing  has  a physical  origin  209.  They  may  not,  there- 
fore, be  quite  as  sinful  as  they  feel.  Besides,  even  in  case  they 
are,  they  believe  “ the  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin.” 
Lay  hold,  then,  on  this  promise.  After  you  have  repented, 
do  not  indulge  these  feelings.  They  are  even  wrong.  Your 
privilege,  your  duty,  are  to  “ hope  in  his  mercy.”  True 
religion  will  render  you  anything  but  mournful.  Wesley 
took  the  right  view  of  this  subject,  and  inculcated  a cheerful 
and  happy  frame  of  mind. 

These  remarks  show  the  importance  of  a right  direction, 
or  an  enlightening  of  this  faculty.  It  is  blind,  and  must  be 
piloted  by  intellect,  as  must  all  the  other  faculties401.  But 
we  cannot  stop  to  qualify,  farther  than  to  say,  that  it  should 
act  in  harmony  with  the  normal  functions  of  all  the  other 
faculties  207 — a principle  as  definite  and  simple  in  its  detailed 
application  as  universal  in  its  sweep.  It  should  be  exercised 
in  conjunction  with  reason  in  particular.  The  former  should 
search  out  the  various  laws  of  our  being,  while  the  latter 
should  see  that  the  other  faculties  render  obedience  to  them.* 


# We  have  dwelt  long  on  this  organ — the  reader  may  think  too  long — 
but,  so  far  from  having  exhausted  our  subject,  the  half  has  not  been  pre- 
sented of  those  most  important  and  most  sublime  truths  it  develops  and  en- 
forces. Indeed,  we  have  presented  no  more  than  appeared  absolutely 
necessary  to  elucidate  the  importance  and  means  of  its  cultivation.  But 
in  the  author’s  work  on  “ Natural  Religion,”  12mo  edition,  they  will  be 
found  fully  developed,  along  with  many  delightful  religious  truths,  as  taught 
by  the  analysis  of  all  the  moral  faculties.  And  the  author  hopes  that  read- 
ers will  derive  so  much  pleasure  and  profit  from  perusing  this  volume, 
as  to  become  readers  of  that  also.  But  for  that  work  and  this  hope,  these 
views  would  be  extended  here ; yet  their  repetition  in  both  is  objectiona- 
ble. Reference  is  had,  not  to  the  Journal  edition,  but  to  one  every  way 
superior,  to  be  published  some  time  in  the  spring  or  summer  of  1847. 


FUNCTION  OF  HOPE. 


247 


16.  HOPE 

“ Springs  eternal  in  the  human  breast — 

Man  never  is,  but  always  to  be  blest.'’ 

271.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  FUNCTION. 

Expectation  ; anticipation  of  success  and  happiness ; 
over-rating  prospective  good,  and  under-rating  or  over- 
looking obstacles  and  evils ; contemplating  the  brighter 
shades  of  the  picture.  Located  on  the  two  sides  of  the  fore 
part  of  Firmness  264,  and  back  part  of  Veneration.  The  line 
drawn  to  find  Firmness  260  passes  through  it.  To  represent 
its  location  by  cuts  is  difficult,  yet  in  cut  No.  19,  or  “ Firm- 
ness large  and  Conscientiousness  small,’5  bn  p.  233,  it  is  small. 

Large  Hope  calculates  on  more  than  the  nature  of  the  case 
will  warrant ; expects,  and  then  attempts  a great  deal ; is 
sanguine  and  cheerful  ; rises  above  present  trouble  by  hoping 
for  better  times ; though  disappointed,  hopes  on  still  ; builds 
some  air  castles,  and  lives  in  the  future. 

Small  Hope  is  easily  discouraged ; expects  and  attempts 
too  little  ; lacks  enterprise  ; sees  lions  in  the  way ; magnifies 
obstacles ; and  calculates  only  on  what  the  other  faculties  see 
how  it  will  be  brought  about. 

272.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Man  is  not  the  creature  of  an  instant286,  but  is  related  to  the 
past  by  memory  474,  to  the  present  by  experience,  and  to  the 
future  by  anticipation.  He  is  also  adapted  to  the  future  as 
well  as  the  present ; because  what  he  does  at  one  time  affects 
him  always  afterward.  He  can  also  appoint  future  times  and 
seasons  for  doing  particular  things,  and  by  a law  of  his  being 
is  compelled  to  wait  for  the  future  in  order  to  enjoy  the  full 
fruition  of  his  labors.  Nature  spreads  futurity  before  him, 
and  bids  him  sow  that  he  may  reap  249.  And  the  more  abund- 
antly he  provides  for  his  prospective  happiness,  the  more  he 
may  reasonably  expect  to  enjoy. 

This  organ  spurs  him  on  to  effort,  and  this  contribuies  to 
success  Those  who  expect  but  little,  attempt  and  accomplish 


248 


HOPE. 


little ; while  sanguine  anticipations  enlarge  all  our  plans,  and 
redouble  all  our  exertions.  But  for  Hope,  the  heart  would 
break,  and  the  hands  hang  down.  Without  it,  the  intense 
yearnings  of  our  nature  would  only  torment  us  with  ardent 
desires  which  we  could  never  expect  to  see  realized,  and 
should,  therefore,  fail  to  attempt.  But  now  this  faculty 
enables  us  to  expect  what  the  other  faculties  desire,  and  this 
inspires  us  to  do,  and  hence  incalculably  promotes  efficiency 
and  all  our  enjoyments. 

It  should  not,  then,  be  allowed  to  flag,  but  cultivated.  Dis- 
couragement constitutes  no  part  of  man’s  primitive  constitu- 
tion. So  far  therefrom,  we  should  “ hope  on,  hope  ever.” 
If  we  fall,  we  should  not  supinely  lie  there,  but  should  bestir 
ourselves  and  search  out  some  other  “peg  to  hang  our  hopes 
upon.”  “Never  give  up  the  ship.”  If  it  storms  to-day,  to- 
morrow is  the  more  likely  to  be  fair.  And  when  trouble 
lowers  and  difficulties  thicken,  the  true  man  will  outride  the 
storm  by  remembering  that  “ the  darkest  hour  is  just  before 
day,”  and  that  his  lot,  compared  with  that  of  many  others,  is 
quite  comfortable.  I protest  against  this  breaking  down  un- 
der discouragements.  Never  indulge  regret  for  what  is  irre- 
trievable. Difficulties  throng  life’s  entire  pathway,  the  very 
surmounting  of  which  is  pleasure  to  him  who  is  resolute. 
Does  pondering  over  misfortune  remove  it  ? Does  it  not 
rather  aggravate  ? Giving  way  to  trouble  paralyzes  effort, 
blasts  success,  crushes  the  spirits,  and  blights  the  soul — how 
much,  those  only  know  who  have  given  up  to  “ hope  deferred.” 
Few  things  render  us  more  wretched  or  paralytic.  “Away 
with  melancholy.”  “There  is  a better  time  coming.”  De- 
spondency impairs  appetite,  diminishes  respiration,  circula- 
tion, motion,  and  all  the  physical  functions,  as  well  as  enfee- 
bles intellect ; whereas  expectation  promotes  every  function 
of  body  and  mind.  Its  due  exercise  redoubles  all  our  pleas- 
ures by  enabling  us  to  enjoy  them  twice — in  anticipation  as 
well  as  fruition — and  often  confers  far  more  pleasure  in  the 
former  than  the  latter ; but  gloomy  forebodings  blight  present 
pleasure  as  well  as  blast  all  the  delights  of  expectation.  The 
atter  should,  therefore,  be  unceremoniously  dismissed,  the 


HOPE  AND  DESPAIR. 


249 


former  encouraged.  We  have  something  to  do  in  this  world 
besides  “ crying  for  spilled  milk.”  Pitiable,  indeed,  are  those 
who  despond.  Why  ever  be  dejected  ? If  we  cannot  obtain 
what  we  wish,  let  us  try  to  get  what  we  can.  The  past  is 
irretrievable,  and  unavailing  regrets  do  not  bring  back  what 
has  already  transpired.  All  that  remains  is  to  make  the  most 
of  the  present  249,  with  a wise  reference  to  the  future. 

A few  illustrative  anecdotes  : I asked  a fellow-boarder,  who 
had  come  to  several  of  his  meals  bent  almost  double,  looking 
as  sad  and  discouraged  as  if  he  had  been  sentenced  to  the  gal- 
lows, and  moving  as  though  twenty-five  years  had  suddenly 
been  fastened  upon  him,  “ How  heavy  the  loss  he  had  sus- 
tained ?55  “ About  $1,500,  55  said  he;  “ who  told  you?55 

“ You  told  me,  not  by  words,  but  by  your  sorrowful  looks  and 
decrepit  movements.  You  were  young  a week  ago,  but  look 
and  act  old  now.  What  was  our  conversation  a few  days 
since  about  making  the  most  of  our  pleasures  and  least  of  our 
troubles,  and  enjoying  life  as  we  went  ?5?  I responded.  A few 
days  afterward,  he  still  appearing  dejected,  I inquired,  “ How 
much  of  that  $1,500  have  you  mourned  back  ?55  “None.55 
“ Then  why  continue  to  sigh  ? You  could  have  made  half  as 
much  more  by  this  time,  but  instead,  have  made  the  less, 
beside  having  shortened  your  days  by  grief,55 1 rejoined  ; and 
repeat  the  same  to  every  discouraged  subject.  Few  things 
break  the  health,  or  talents,  or  shorten  life,  equally  with  a 
sunken  spirit. 

A rich  and  prosperous  man  helped  his  friends  till  he 
failed,  when,  shutting  himself  up,  he  abandoned  himself 
to  gloom  and  discouragement.  Of  course,  his  family  soon 
came  to  want,  when  a poor  widow  woman  brought  them 
three  loaves  of  bread.  The  thought  that  this  widow  woman, 
beside  supporting  by  her  own  industry  herself  and  little  son, 
should  also  earn  bread  for  his  hungry  children,  roused  him  to 
effort.  He  bestirred  himself,  found  employment,  and  is  now 
comfortable,  and  bids  fair  to  recover  his  lost  fortunes.  Words 
can  hardly  portray  the  influence  of  encouraged  Hope  on  effort 
and  all  the  other  faculties,  and,  of  course,  on  success  and 
happiness,  or  the  paralyzing  power  of  despondency.  He  i$ 


250 


HOPE. 


weak  who  yields  to  it , and  the  greater  the  misfortune,  the 
greater  the  fortitude  with  which  it  should  be  met.  Indeed, 
this  magnanimous  rising  above  trouble  almost  converts  it  into 
good-fortune,  by  those  delightful  feelings  it  inspires. 

Yet  much  of  the  despondency,  especially  of  the  sedentary 
and  invalid  classes,  is  caused,  like  that  of  Payson,  by  disor- 
dered nerves.  The  reason  of  this  is  given  in  Yol.  I.  156  Let 
such  remember  that  their  evil  forebodings  are  caused  not 
by  unfavorable  prospects,  but  by  a state  of  nervous  irrita- 
bility. 

And  those  whose  Hope  is  small,  should  cheer  up ; expect 
more ; and  recount  all  that  is  favorable,  but  not  what  is  unfa- 
vorable. Bear  in  mind,  practically,  that  large  Hope  would  look 
out  upon  the  same  prospects  very  differently — that  you  behold 
them  through  diminishing  and  dark-shaded  glasses,  and  hence 
should  make  due  allowance. 

This  faculty  should  also  be  cultivated  in  children.  Their 
sky  is  always  bright.  O I admire  their  happy,  happy  frame 
of  mind.  The  instant  one  source  of  delight  is  cut  off,  they 
wholly  forget  it,  with  a “ Never  mind  that ; this  is  better.” 
Take  pattern,  ye  despondents,  from  them,  and  let  this  faculty 
be  stimulated  in  all. 

273.  ITS  DUE  REGULATION  AND  RESTRAINT. 

Yet  it  may  be,  relatively,  too  active,  so  as  to  render  its  pos- 
sessor visionary,  chimerical,  speculative,  and  liable  to  lose  all 
by  attempting  more  than  can  be  accomplished.  Such  spread 
themselves  too  much.  Their  splendid  prospects  have  no  solid 
foundation,  but  are  caused  by  the  magnifying  influence  of 
Hope.  Dock  off  half  or  two-thirds  from  what  you  really  ex- 
pect to  obtain.  This  is  all  you  may  reasonably  calculate 
upon.  Bear  in  mind  that  you  are  constitutionally  inclined  to 
overrate  every  prospect,  and  to  underrate  every  difficulty. 
Besides,  you  are  not  contented  with  the  present,  because  you 
think  you  could  do  so  much  better  in  something  else.  Hence, 
never  lose  a certainty  in  grasping  after  an  uncertainty.  Go 
more  slowly  and  surely.  Do  not  try  so  many  experiments, 
or  enter  on  so  many  schemes  In  short,  put  intellect,  pm 


A FUTURE  STATE. 


251 


dence,  add  your  other  restraining  faculties,  over  against  Hope, 
and  refrain  from  acting  on  its  chimerical  projects. 

And  let  all  guard  against  both  excessive  and  deficient  Hope, 
Thousands  are  slaves  either  to  the  one  or  the  other.  The 
former  make  the  worst  of  their  fate,  and  suffer  in  the  mere 
apprehension  of  imaginary  evil ; the  latter  suffer  from  wild 
extravagances  like  those  of  1836,  and  thus  cause  the  fall  of 
thousands  of  others. 


274.  A FUTURE  STATE. 

But  “ it  is  not  all  of  life  to  live,  nor  all  of  death  to  die.” 
Though  death  may  demolish  the  earthly  tabernacle  of  the 
soul,  yet  that  does  not  constitute  the  man,  but  merely  his  outer 
garment 19.  Death  is  not  an  eternal  sleep,  but  only  the  door 
of  entrance  upon  a new  and  infinitely  higher  order  of  life. 
That  this  is  thus,  we  will  not  stop  to  prove,  only  enough  to 
found  on  it  a most  important  inference.  See  a short  but  con- 
clusive proof  of  this  point  in  “ Memory,”  under  Time486  498. 
See  also  a perfect  demonstration  of  it  in  “ Religion,”  under 
Hope,  Spirituality,  and  also  Veneration.  The  same  absolute 
order  of  proof  is  there  brought  to  confirm  this  immortality  of 
the  soul  just  adduced  under  Conscientiousness,  to  prove  that 
man  is  a moral  being.  Nor  is  it  open  to  the  least  doubt,  but 
rendered  certain  by  absolute  science.  Yes,  man  is  created 
for  immortality — -a  state  of  being  beyond  the  narrow  confines 
of  earth,  and  extending  down  the  endless  vista  of  eternity, 
infinitely  beyond  the  conception  of  imagination’s  remotest 
stretch  ! And  an  eternity  of  happiness,  too,  if  we  but  fulfil  its 
conditions.  And  to  an  extent,  the  height,  the  boundaries  of 
which  the  largest  Hope,  mounted  on  her  loftiest  pinions,  can- 
not environ.  Oh  ! the  height,  length,  depth,  and  richness  of 
that  ocean  of  unalloyed  bliss  proffered  to  the  foretaste  of  mor- 
tals by  this  faculty  ! 

Shall  we  then  be  content  to  confine  all  our  hopes  to  this  life  ? 
If  terrestrial  objects  had  been  the  legitimate  terminus  of  Hope, 
it  would  have  been  located  by  the  side  of  this  world’s  organs — 
among  the  social  oi  animal  groups — but  no  : it  takes  its  exalted 
position  in  the  ranks  of  the  moral  virtues.  It  is  located  by 


252 


HOPE. 


the  side  of  Conscientiousness  behind,  so  that  it  may  look  foi 
ward  to  the  reward  of  good  conduct ; by  the  side  of  Spirituality 
before,  so  that,  in  conjunction  therewith,  it  may  hope  for  a 
blessed  immortality  beyond  the  grave  ; by  the  side  of  Venera- 
tion above,  so  that  it  may  hope  to  see  God  as  he  is,  and  even 
to  be  like  him  ; and  by  Sublimity  below,  so  that  it  may  associate 
these  hopes  with  the  illimitable  and  the  infinite ! He  whose 
expectations  terminate  on  acquiring  wealth,  fame,  food,  fami- 
ly, friends,  or  anything  which  earth  can  possibly  con- 
fer, falls  infinitely  short  of  his  glorious  privileges  and  his 
exalted  destiny 261.  As  to  hope  for  this  world’s  goods  redoubles 
our  efforts  to  obtain  them,  so  placing  our  hopes  on  “ heaven 
and  heavenly  things  ” increases  our  attainments  in  that  holiness 
which  fits  us  therefor.  Then  why  grovel  ? Why  crawl  when 
we  can  soar  ? ay,  even  on  the  wings  of  angels,  and  to  th& 
realms  of  bliss ! No,  we  will  not  trifle  thus — will  not  forego 
the  treasures  of  heaven  for  the  paltry  gewgaws  of  earth. 

One  word  of  consolation  to  those  who  mourn  the  loss  of 
dear  children  or  friends.  The  withering  influence  of  blighted 
affection  on  Adhesiveness  has  already  been  specified  227 . It 
equally  blasts  Hope.  I will  not  stop  to  prove,  but  merely 
state  as  a summing  up  of  my  observations,  that  mourning  for 
lost  friends  diminishes  Hope.  Yet  such  diminution  necessarily 
deteriorates  and  palsies  272,  and  is  therefore  wrong.  But 
though  the  death  of  promising  children  may  blast  earthly 
prospects,  yet  it  need  not  blast  this  faculty ; for  we  may  hope 
to  meet  them  in  another  and  a better  world.  And  what  are 
even  a score  or  two  of  years  compared  with  eternity  ? We  shall 
soon  see  and  unite  with  them,  and  may  encourage  Hope  by 
preparing  ourselves  for  this  blessed  fruition,  so  as  to  save  our 
hopes  from  becoming  wrecked — so  as  even  to  develop  Hope, 
instead  of  suffer  from  its  decline. 


FUNCTION  OF  SPIRITUALITY- . 


253 


17.  SPIRITUALITY— MARVELLOUSNESS. 

“God  is  a Spirit.” — “Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  see  God.” 

275.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  FUNCTION. 

Intuition  ; faith  ; prescience  ; spiritual  perception  of 
truth,  what  is  best,  what  is  about  to  transpire,  etc. ; the 
“inner  light;”  perception  and  feeling  of  the  spiritual; 
credulity  ; belief  in  the  superhuman  ; and  trust  in  divine 
guidings.  Located  on  the  two  sides  of  Veneration. 

Large  Spirituality  perceives  and  knows  things  independ- 
ently of  the  senses  or  intellectual  faculties,  or,  as  it  were,  by 
spiritual  intuition;  “feels  it  in  the  bones;”  experiences  an 
internal  consciousness  of  what  is  best,  and  that  spiritual  com- 
munion with  God  which  constitutes  the  essence  of  true  piety  ; 
loves  to  meditate ; bestows  a species  of  waking  clairvoy- 
ance ; and  is,  as  it  were,  “ forewarned  of  God.” 

Small  Spirituality  experiences  little  of  this  state  of  mind, 
and  believes  only  on  actual  evidence ; is  incredulous — a 
doubting  Thomas ; and  not  favored  with  this  intuition  and 
premonition. 

276.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

That  there  exists  a spiritual  state  of  being,  and  that  “ God 
is  a Spirit,”  are  matters  of  universal  belief ; and  that  man  is 
endowed  with  an  immaterial  principle — an  undying  soul — 
which  sees  and  knows  by  intuition,  irrespective  of  material 
eyes  or  reason,  is  to  many  an  experimental  reality,  a con- 
scious fact.  But  for  some  such  faculty,  man  could  form  no 
more  conception  or  idea  of  anything  not  material,  or  of  any- 
thing spiritual,  than  the  blind  of  colors.  But  for  it,  the  idea 
of  God  as  a Spirit,  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  of  an 
immaterial,  disembodied  spirit,  would  have  been  absolutely 
impossible.  But  man  has  these  ideas.  The  fact  has  also 
recently  been  philosophically  demonstrated  in  Germany,  that 
in  certain  states  of  the  nervous  system  subjects  do  see  by  a 
kind  of  spiritual  sense,  independently  of  vision.  Clairvoyance 
also  establishes  the  same  conclusion  by  another  method  of 
22 


254 


SPIRITUALITY. 


proofs ; and  in  almost  every  community  will  be  found  those 
who  are  forewarned  of  coming  events,  and  who  arrive  at  cor- 
/ect  conclusions  independently  of  reason,  and  often  in  its  very 
feeth,  without  knowledge,  and,  contrary  to  all  appearances,  by 
impressions  better  felt  than  described,  yet  in  strict  accordance 
tvith  what  subsequently  occurs.  Believers  in  the  Bible  will 
at  least  admit  the  existence  of  this  spiritual  guide  in  the 
teachings  of  the  “ Holy  Spirit,5’  the  prescience  of  the  prophets, 
plenary  inspiration,  the  existence  of  spirits,  of  the  soul  after  it 
leaves  the  body,  and  much  more  to  the  same  effect. 

Man,  moreover,  requires  some  such  faculty  to  teach  him 
things  which  reason  can  never  know,  because  they  depend 
on  contingencies  yet  untranspired,  and  which  this  spiritual 
vision  alone  can  disclose.  And  with  this  vision,  which  the 
sun  cannot  enlighten  nor  thick  darkness  intercept — which  sees 
with  the  optics  of  angels,  and  gathers  pearls  from  the  ocean  of 
illimitable  existence,  which  distance  intercepts  not  and  which 
reads  the  book  of  fate  before  time  breaks  its  seal,  which 
reveals  to  man  what  shall  be  hereafter,  when  the  earth  has 
become  old  and  the  sun  gone  out — man  is  endowed.  But  our 
purpose  being  simply  to  show  how  this  faculty  can  be  culti- 
vated, we  will  not  dwell  upon  the  proofs  of  its  existence,  but 
refer  the  reader  to  our  work  on  “ Natural  Religion,55  both  for 
such  proof  and  a full  elucidation  of  its  function.  Suffice  it  to 
add,  that  no  mental  faculty  was  created  in  vain ; that  the  cul- 
tivation and  right  exercise  of  each  one  confers  a great  amount 
of  happiness ; that  the  moral  in  particular  require  such  exer- 
cise, in  order  that  they  may  maintain  that  supremacy  so  indis- 
pensable to  human  happiness  and  virtue 211 ; and  that  there- 
fore Spirituality  should,  in  a special  manner,  be  developed  by 
culture.  And  the  more  so  since  it  is  so  universally  deficient 
In  not  one  head  in  hundreds  does  it  reach  mediocrity,  and, 
excepting  Continuity  234,  is  decidedly  the  least  developed  of 
any  other  organ.  Yet  nature  evidently  designed  it  to  be  one 
of  the  very  largest. 

The  exercise  of  no  other  fills  the  soul  with  such  a flood 
of  holy,  happy  emotion.  Believers  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  rightly  maintain  that  disembodied  spirits  are  capable  of 


BEING  SPIRITUALLY-MINDED, 


255 


being  inconceivably  happy,  and  that  the  joys  of  heaven  are 
of  an  order,  as  well  as  degree,  infinitely  higher  than  those  of 
earth.  Why  ? Because  this  spiritual  state  so  infinitely  ex* 
alts  and  enhances  our  capabilities  of  enjoying,  as  well  as  sea- 
sons those  joys.  Consequently,  the  more  we  exercise  this 
spiritualizing  faculty,  the  more  we  sweeten  even  the  pleasures 
of  earth  with  this  seasoning  of  heaven. 

This  faculty,  moreover,  so  purifies  the  soul  as  to  redouble 
many  times  over,  every  pleasure,  even  of  earth ; so  exalts  the 
mind,  and  all  its  appetites  and  passions,  as  to  dispose  and  en- 
able us  to  see  God  and  love  him,  in  all  the  works  of  his 
hands,  as  well  as  imparts  a heavenly  relish,  zest,  and  exqui- 
siteness to  the  domestic  affections,  to  all  the  animal  propensi- 
ties, the  intellectual  operations,  and  especially  to  the  moral 
virtues,  which  words  utterly  fail  to  portray — which,  to  be  ap- 
preciated, must  be  felt.  Yet  this  is  felt  only  by  the  chosen 
few.  Man  is  yet  too  low  in  the  moral  scale  to  derive  much 
pleasure  from  "this  faculty ; but,  reader,  there  is  proffered  to 
mortals,  in  its  due  exercise,  a holy  joy,  a heavenly  serenity,  a 
delightful  communion  with  the  Father  of  our  spirits — even  an 
extasy  of  divine  love — which  is  akin  to  the  felicity  of  angels — 
which  actually  constitutes  that  felicity.  Heaven  “ is  not  far 
from  every  one  of  us.”  We  need  not  wait  till  we  reach  its 
shores,  before  we  taste  its  nectar.  This  spiritualizing  prin- 
ciple imports  them  to  earth — at  least  sufficient  to  sustain 
us  in  our  journey  thither,  and  create  an  appetite — yea,  a hun- 
gering and  thirsting — for  “ the  bread  of  heaven  and  the  water 
of  life.”  O little  do  we  realize  how  happy  it  is  possible  for 
us  to  become  on  earth,  by  the  due  exercise  of  this  faculty,  in 
communing  with  our  own  souls  and  with  our  God ! By  so 
doing  we  can  mount  Pisgah’s  soaring  heights,  and  “ view  the 
promised  land” — can  be  literally  translated  to  paradise,  and 
revel  in  all  its  spiritual  luxuries.  Heaven  is  around  and 
within  those  who  duly  exercise  this  heaven-constituting 
faculty. 

Accuse  me  not  of  imaginative  rhapsody.  All  this,  and 
much  more,  is  sober,  philosophical  deduction  on  the  one  hand, 
and  experimental  reality  on  the  other.  This  sublime  truth 


256 


SPIRITUALITY. 


will  not  be  appreciated  by  the  many,  because  of  the  low  state 
of  this  faculty  ; yet  the  “ spiritually-minded”  few  will  feel  the 
sacred  response  in  their  own  souls,  and  all  who  will  inquire  at 
the  shrine  of  their  inner  man,  will  experience  enough  to  con- 
firm the  witness. 

To  two  classes  of  facts  in  corroboration  of  this  great  prac- 
tical truth — the  exalted  enjoyment  conferred  by  spirituality — 
special  attention  is  invited.  That  religious  conversion  often 
fills  its  subjects  with  an  indescribable  rapture  of  love  and 
“ joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,”  is  an  experimental  and  observable 
fact.  This  extasy  is  not  counterfeited,  but  felt.  Many 
readers  are  doubtless  its  living  subjects ; and  it  so  infinitely 
exceeds  all  the  other  joys  of  life  as  to  beggar  all  attempts  at 
description.  Now  this  joy  consists  in  the  exercise  of  their 
faculties — the  only  instrumentality  of  happiness  of  mind — and 
especially  of  the  moral,  all  of  which  are  greatly  quickened. 
But  this  heavenly  rapture  is  not  the  product  of  Benevolence, 
or  Conscientiousness,  or  Hope,  or  even  Veneration,  mainly, 
but  of  that  spiritual  exaltation  of  mind  we  are  attempting — 
almost  in  vain,  because  it  so  infinitely  exceeds  the  language 
of  earth — to  depict.  The  former  help  swell  this  flood  of  holy 
joy ; but  the  latter  constitutes  its  channel,  and  the  main  body 
of  its  holy  waters.  And  these  heavenly  extasies  of  recent 
converts,  are  but  as  new-born  babes  compared  with  the  angelic- 
raptures  it  is  possible  for  mortals  to  experience.  Progression 
is  nature’s  motto201.  Personal  progression,  especially  in 
moral  excellence,  and  therefore  in  all  its  joys,  is  the  glorious 
prerogative  of  every  human  being  206.  Then  why  cannot 
these  converts  go  on  “ from  glory  to  glory,”  every  successive 
year  and  hour  of  life,  till  heaven  consummates  their  joys? 
And  why  not  all  be  equally  happy  ? But  why  enlarge  ? 
The  principle  involved  must  be  apparent  to  all,  and  its  per- 
sonal application  to  our  own  souls  palpable.  Now  this  extasy 
of  joy  must  have  both  its  cause  and  its  instrumentality ; both 
which  are  found  in  Spirituality. 

Sometimes  these  foretastes  of  heaven  soften  the  dying  bed. 
Nor  do  they  wholly  forsake  the  walks  of  private  life.  Every 
one  of  us  have  only  to  reach  forth  our  hands  and  pluck  this 


PURIFYING  INFLUENCES. 


257 


golden  apple  of  paradise,  and  feast  on  it  through  life.  Then, 
besides  enjoying  a heaven  below,  we  shall  be  ripened  for  a 
heaven  above.  Bear  in  mind  that  all  this  is  but  rigid  scientific 
deduction  from  the  normal  function  of  Spirituality,  though 
that  function  no  previous  phrenological  author  seems  to  have 
appreciated. 

The  other  class  of  facts  appertains  to  a certain  delightful 
state  of  mind  consequent  on  a pure,  holy,  heavenly  tone  or 
state,  capable  of  being  experienced  by  all  the  propensities  and 
feelings.  Examples  will  best  illustrate  this  point.  The  low, 
vulgar,  animal,  sensual  indulgence  of  Amativeness,  confers  a 
similar  coarse-grained  kind  of  gratification,  yet  how  infinitely 
more  happifying — to  coin  a new  word — that  spiritual  love 
experienced  by  two  kindred  souls  when  basking  in  the  sun- 
shine of  each  other’s  love,  and  sipping  the  nectar  of  heaven 
from  this  flowing-together  of  spirits  ? Approbativeness  also 
experiences  a coarse  species  of  pleasure  in  the  rude  ha ! ha  ! 
provoked  by  some  monkey  prank,  or  by  excelling  in  eating, 
fighting,  wrestling,  and  the  like  ; yet  how  far  higher  the  order 
of  pleasure  taken  in  commendations  for  intellectual  and  moral 
excellence  ? Self-Esteem,  too,  may  experience  a crude,  coarse- 
grained pride  in  exhibiting  its  golden  possessions  and  external 
trappings,  yet  how  infinitely  higher  the  order  of  pleasure  ex- 
perienced by  this  faculty  in  view  of  that  dignity  and  glory  of 
the  human  constitution  ? 261 

This  law  also  governs  all  the  intellectual  faculties.  Phys- 
ical observation  gratifies  Individuality,  but  moral  infinitely 
more.  Causality  experiences  a lower  order  of  pleasure  in 
adapting  physical  ways  and  means  to  physical  ends,  yet  how 
almost  infinitely  greater  in  studying  and  applying  those  high- 
er laws  which  appertain  to  intellect,  morals,  and  the  Deity ! 
In  short,  a physical,  and  also  a highly-elevated,  tone  or  caste 
of  action  appertains  to  all  the  faculties,  and  the  order  as  well 
as  amount  of  happiness  experienced  in  the  latter  are  almost 
infinitely  higher  than  in  the  former.  Now  Spirituality  lifts 
all  the  faculties  up  out  of  this  sublunary  function,  and  carries 
them  on  its  own  heaven-tending  pinions  into  this  exalted  and 
most  beatific  state,  and  thus,  in  addition  to  all  the  delights 


258 


SPIRITUALITY. 


conferred  by  itself  directly,  almost  infinitely  exalts  and  en- 
hances the  happiness  conferred  by  all  the  other  faculties. 

And  now,  happiness-seeking  reader,  allow  this  home  ap- 
peal. Are  you  content  with  this  animal  tendency  of  your 
faculties  ? Do  you  not  experience  a perpetual  “ aching 
void/’  which  this  world  is  utterly  inadequate,  as  it  was  never 
designed,  to  fill  ? Are  gold,  and  silver,  and  lands,  all  the 
treasures  for  which  you  long  ? Do  you  not  experience  an  in- 
definable want  which  nothing  earthly  has  the  power  to  satisfy  ? 
You  eat  material  bread,  but  does  that  satiate  your  inmost 
soul  ? Do  you  not  hunger  and  thirst  after  “ meat  to  eat 
which  you  know  not  of,”  except  the  merest  taste — just  enough 
to  show  you  what  there  is  ? O our  God ! feed  us  with  “ this 
bread  of  heaven  !”  We  starve — our  souls  are  pining  and 
dying — in  the  desert  of  vain  pursuits.  O feed  us  on  the 
grapes  of  paradise  till  we  revive  and  gain  strength  to  enter 
the  “ promised  land  !” 

The  importance  of  cultivating  Spirituality  is,  of  course, 
commensurate  with  these  antepasts  of  heaven  it  was  calcu- 
lated to  bestow.  Shall  we  not  exercise  it?  Yet  we  must 
not  expect  to  carry  heaven  in  one  hand  and  earth  in  the  other. 
“ No  man  can  serve  two  masters.”  “ Where  our  treasure 
is,  there  will  our”  joys  be  also.  We  cannot  revel  in  this 
gross  animal  caste  of  our  faculties,  and  also  in  their  holy  aspi- 
rations. If  you  are  contented  to  go  on  as  heretofore,  your 
way  is  before  you.  Advice  is  useless.  But  ye  who  would 
renounce  this  coarse-grained  function  of  your  faculties,  and 
feast  on  the  riches  of  heaven  instead,  hear.  To  experience 
these  holy  joys,  this  spiritualizing  faculty  must  be  culti- 
vated. And  to  do  this,  put  off  this  worldly  phase  of  all  your 
faculties  and  exercise  them  in  accordance  with  this  analysis 
of  Spirituality. 

Above  all,  meditate.  Commune  with  your  own  soul  and 
your  God — not  at  times  “ few  and  far  between,”  nor  hurriedly, 
but  daily  and  long.  Shut  the  terrestrial  door  of  thy  soul,  and 
open  its  celestial  windows,  and  there  give  thyself  up  to  spirit- 
ual reveries.  Let  thy  soul  go  out  after  God,  and  imbibe  his 
spirit.  Feast  on  his  love.  Contemplate  his  character  as 


MEDITATION. 


259 


exhibited  in  his  works.  Assimilate  and  attune  your  feelings 
and  innermost  soul  to  his  divine  likeness261.  Wrestle  with 
him  as  did  Jacob.  Put  away  all  unclean  thoughts  and  de- 
sires, and  long  after  purity  and  moral  perfection.  Yet  you 
need  not  shut  yourself  up  in  the  dark.  Natural  light  does 
not  intercept  but  promotes  spiritual.  The  open  canopy  of 
heaven,  cultivated  fields,  deep,  still  forests,  flower- bedecked 
lawns,  murmuring  brooks,  beautiful  or  magnificent  land- 
scapes— above  all,  the  rising  and  setting  sun,  morning  and 
evening  twilight,  the  glowing  east,  the  gold-tinged  sky  of  de- 
parting day — O there  is  a magic  spell  in  these  works  of  God 
which  inspires  us  with  a sense  of  his  presence,  and  infuses 
into  the  soul  those  spiritual  longings  and  emotions  we  would 
show  how  to  cultivate.  If  I had  been  brought  up  a Parsee, 
I should  have  been  a devout  worshipper  of  the  morning  sun, 
and  offered  up  soul-melting  homage  to  the  departing  god  of 
day. 

But,  glory  to  God,  I can  worship  the  Creator  of  the 
sun  at  his  morning  advent  and  evening  departure.  Memory 
cherishes  with  inexpressible  delight  some  choice  gems  in  its 
casket,  but  none  as  bright  as  those  sacred  seasons,  when,  at 
evening  twilight,  I went  into  wood,  dale,  or  field,  to  meditate, 
and  hold  sweet  communion  with  the  Father  of  my  spirit.  To 
these  holy  seasons  I owe  eternal  thanks,  as  both  the  happiest 
and  most  profitable  periods  of  my  eventful  life.  There  I 
learned  lessons  taught  nowhere  else — taught  by  God  himself. 
These  holy  seasons  the  cares  of  the  world,  pressing  profes- 
sional engagements,  etc.,  have  been  wickedly  allowed  to  inter- 
rupt, yet  not  to  efface  from  memory’s  sacred  tablet.  My 
soul  must  be  fed  with  this  manna  from  heaven,  though  my 
body  starve.  Reader,  shall  we  not  go  forth  at  evening  twi- 
light together,  and  gaze  upon  the  ever- varying  beauties  and 
glories  of  Vesper,  to  think  on  heaven  and  God,  and  to  seek 
that  conformity  to  his  image  which  shall  fit  us  for  its  joys  ? 
And  shall  we  allow  dull  sloth  to  rob  our  souls  of  Aurora’s 
smiles  as  she  comes  forth  to  light  up  the  face  of  nature  ? 128 
Shall  birds  arise  with  the  dawn  and  sing  anthems  of  praise  to 
their  God,  and  we  not  to  ours — especially  since  we  have  so 


260 


SPIRITUALITY. 


much  more  for  which  to  sing?  Nor  is  the  sta  ry  canopy  of 
heaven  so  inferior  a temple  for  divine  worship. 

Yet  I by  no  means  condemn  the  earth,  its  comforts,  or  its 
blessings.  We  need  not  cease  to  indulge  our  worldly  facul- 
ties on  terrestrial  objects  in  order  to  attain  these  spiritual 
pleasures.  The  animal  instincts  are  not  at  enmity  with  this 
spiritual  state  of  mind,  but,  rightly  exercised,  actually  pro- 
mote it.  We  may  love  food  and  property,  friends  and  praise — 
may  exercise  every  other  faculty,  not  by  stint,  but  intensely, 
without  in  the  least  interrupting  Spirituality.  Indeed,  we  can- 
not exercise  it  without  exercising  them  also.  We  may — 
must — love  this  world,  “ yet  as  not  abusing  it.”  We  must 
not  love  it  in  predominance,  but  subordinately.  And  love  it 
in  connection  with  our  moral  faculties.  Indeed,  by  this  union 
alone  can  we  truly  enjoy  it.  He  whose  whole  mind  is  on  the 
world,  does  not,  cannot,  enjoy  even  it.  To  derive  its  full 
quota  of  happiness  from  any  one  department  of  our  nature, 
that  department  must  blend  in  action  with  all  the  rest  209. 
We  cannot  possibly  love  the  world  too  much,  only  wrong- 
fully. Yet  our  animal  faculties  require  to  be  sanctified  by 
the  conjoint  action  of  the  higher  faculties211.  By  “not  carry- 
ing earth  in  one  hand  and  heaven  in  the  other,”  was  meant, 
making  an  idol  of  earth — loving  it  exclusively,  or  on  its  own 
account.  Neither  without  the  other.  Both  in  delightful  con- 
cert207. Yet  we  all  love  the  world  too  much,  relatively,  and 
hence  give  it  most  of  our  time,  and  can  hardly  spare  from  it 
an  hour,  morning  and  evening,  for  those  meditative  seasons, 
even  after  we  have  given  the  entire  day  to  our  animal  nature. 
The  body  was  never  made  to  engross  nineteen-twentieths  of 
human  time  and  money  249  . Our  higher  faculties  are  the  su- 
periors, and  if  either  must  be  slighted,  neglect  the  body.  Yet 
there  is  time  for  both.  Let  us  take  it. 

But  the  cultivation  of  this  faculty  is  by  no  means  limited  to 
these  appropriated  seasons.  Every  hour  of  the  day,  be  our 
avocations  what  they  may,  be  we  in  sequestered  wood,  or 
thronged,  uproarious  city,  this  feeling  can  be  and  should  be 
exercised,  in  addition  to  its  morning  and  evening  repast. 

Especially  can  it  be  cultivated  by  following  its  premoni- 


FOLLOWING  ITS  GUIDINGS. 


261 


tions.  Man  usually  turns  a deaf  ear  to  its  whisperings,  and 
hence  it  ceases  its  guidance.  Follow  where  it  leads  and  it 
will  lead  again,  and,  obeyed,  become  a spiritual  monitor  in  all 
the  little  as  well  as  important  affairs  of  life.  Especially  let  it 
be  followed  in  the  selection  of  matrimonial  companions. 
Here,  allowed  to  speak,  it  becomes  an  infallible  oracle ; and 
especially  when  it  says,  marry  this  one,  or  refuse  that,  obey, 
no  matter  how  much  appearances,  friends,  etc.,  favor  the  lat- 
ter or  war  against  the  former.  Every  union  thus  formed  will 
be  blessed.  More  especially  should  woman  obey  its  sacred 
matrimonial  injunctions. 

The  existence  and  analysis  of  this  faculty  rebukes  those 
who  pride  themselves  in  believing  nothing  till  it  is  proved. 
It  was  not  created  in  vain,  and  cannot  be  stifled  with  impunity. 
We  require  to  believe  many  things  which  intellect  cannot 
'each.  We  should  open  all  the  windows  of  knowledge. 
-Still,  we  should  believe  nothing  unreasonable  or  self-contra- 
dictory • for  this  faculty  will  never  conflict  with  intellect. 
On  the  contrary,  all  the  faculties  harmonize  with  all.  Its 
‘cachings  may  be  above  reason,  but  will  never  conflict  with 
it.  While,  therefore,  we  should  receive  its  teachings,  we 
should  also  “ try  the  spirits/’  and  seek  intellectual  confirma- 
tion of  its  teachings,  which,  if  they  be  correct,  we  can  always 
flu d.  We  should  therefore  be  neither  skeptical  nor  credulous, 
out  should  open  our  minds  to  receive  new  and  apparently  su- 
perhuman propositions,  yet  should  test  them  all  in  the  crucible 
of  intellect.  By  rejecting  all  new  and  seemingly  strange 
things,  we  shut  out  much  truth  ; and  by  swallowing  all  we 
hear,  unexamined,  we  adopt  much  error. 

What  has  been  already  said  involves  both  the  importance 
and  means  of  cultivating  this  faculty  in  youth.  They  should 
oe  allowed  time,  and  encouraged  to  indulge  its  spontaneous 
tendency  to  action,  and  by  so  doing,  will  grow  up  “ spiritually 
minded.”  Mothers,  in  a special  manner,  can  and  should  de- 
velop it  in  youth,  nor  will  any  other  means  equally  cleanse 
/our  children  from  the  dross  of  animality,  or  render  them 
Dbedient,  sweet,  and  holy. 


262 


VENERATION. 


2 77.  ITS  DUE  REGULATION. 

Fear  of  ghosts,  witches,  and  other  supernatural  things,  is 
the  product  of  its  perverted  action,  and  should  not  be  indulged. 
Especially,  never  tell  spook  stories  to  children.  But  our 
analysis  of  the  faculty  shows  what  phases  of  it  are  abnormal, 
and  hence  require  to  be  checked.  Yet  for  a full  elucidation 
of  this  faculty,  and  a presentation  of  those  blessed  truths 
which  such  analysis  teaches,  the  reader  is  again  referred  to 
“Natural  Religion/5  by  the  author. 


18.  VENERATION. 

“Worship  God.” 

278.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  FUNCTION. 

Devotion,  adoration  of  a Supreme  Being;  reverence  for 
religion  and  things  sacred ; disposition  to  pray,  and  observe 
religious  rites.  Located  in  the  middle  of  the  top  of  the  head. 
It  is  large  in  “Father  Oberlin” — as  seen  in  the  great  rising 
of  his  head  above  his  ears,  and  elevation  of  the  middle  por- 
tion of  his  top  head — but  small  in  the  cut  of  a negro,  executed 


VENERATION  SMALL. 


No.  21.  Negro  Murderer. 


for  murder,  who  was  almost  devoid  of  this  sentiment.  In  him 
Spirituality  was  also  small,  and  hence  that  depression  across 
the  middle  of  his  top  head.  But  it  is  very  large  in  Diana 
Waters,  who  went  about  the  streets  of  Philadelphia  deranged 
on  religion  for  twenty  vears,  praying  spontaneously  most  of 


ITS  LOCATION  AND  2TNCTION. 


263 


the  time,  exhorting  all  others  to  pray,  referring  everything 
to  the  will  and  providence  of  the  Lord,  etc. 

VENERATION  LARGE. 


No.  22.  Diana  Waters. 


VENERATION  LARGE. 


No.  23.  Father  Oberlin. 

Large  Veneration  experiences  an  awe  of  God  and  things 
sacred ; loves  to  adore  the  Supreme  Being,  especially  in  his 


264 


VENERATION. 


works ; gives  true  devotion,  fervent  piety,  and  love  of  divine 
things  ; and  takes  great  delight  in  religious  exercises. 

Small  Veneration  sets  lightly  by  religious  creeds  and  obser 
vances ; places  religion  in  other  things,  such  as  charity,  hon 
esty,  etc.,  and  is  not  serious  or  particularly  devout. 

279.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

That  there  is  a Supreme  Being,  all  nations  and  ages  have 
believed,  all  nature  attests,  and  Phrenology  demonstrates,  by 
pointing  out  the  existence  of  a primary  faculty  of  the  human 
soul  adapted  to  his  worship.  As  the  existence  of  the  eye  and 
its  adaptation  to  light  presupposes  and  proves  the  existence  of 
light ; of  Causality  that  of  laws  ; of  Language  that  of  words  ; 
and  thus  of  all  man’s  other  primitive  powers — as  the  adaptation 
of  one  thing  in  nature  to  another  presupposes  and  implies  the 
existence,  past  or  present,  of  that  to  which  it  is  adapted — so  the 
existence  of  this  primitive  element  of  mind  implies  and  com- 
pletely demonstrates  the  existence  of  a God  adapted  to  re- 
ceive the  homage  this  faculty  is  constituted  to  experience. 
Nor  can  this  proof  be  invalidated.  It  is  absolute.  It  has 
but  two  conditions — the  existence  of  this  worshipping  faculty, 
which  Phrenology  establishes — see  “ Natural  Religion” — and 
the  other  that  the  adaptation  of  one  thing  to  another  implies  the 
existence  of  the  latter — an  indisputable  ordinance  of  nature. 

The  existence  of  this  worshipping  faculty  proves  that  it 
should  be  exercised.  No  faculty  was  created  for  naught. 
None  can  lie  dormant  without  creating  a great  mental  hiatus, 
which  nothing  else  can  fill,  and  which  enfeebles  and  deforms 
the  whole  mind.  How  absolutely  necessary  to  human  perfec- 
tion the  possession  of  lungs,  heart,  muscles,  and  other  physical 
organs?  And  what  would  a mind  be,  destitute  of  Friendship, 
Parental  Love,  Prudence,  Ambition,  Moral  Principle,  Obser- 
vation, Language,  Reason,  or  any  other  primitive  faculty  ? 
So  maimea  as  to  be  hideously  deformed,  and  almost  de- 
stroyed. Proportionally  defective  those  whose  Veneration  is 
small,  and  perfect  in  whom  it  is  large. 

It  also,  like  all  the  other  faculties,  contributes  incalculably 
to  human  enjoyment,  both  in  its  own  action,  and  by  enhan- 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  HUMAN  HAPPINESS. 


265 


ciu  and  sanctifying  that  of  all  the  others,  as  Spirituality  was 
sho&  n to  do.  It  chastens  rampant  propensity,  develops  in  bold 
relief  all  the  virtues,  and  even  sanctifies  and  enhances  intel- 
lect. Those  who  do  not  love  God  and  his  worship  are  com- 
parative strangers  to  that  extasy  of  enjoyment  of  which  hu- 
tnan  nature  is  capable.  Veneration  is  that  moral  luminary 
which  imparts  light  and  warmth  to  all  the  other  moral  ele- 
ments, and  these  are  the  planets  of  the  satellite  propensities211. 
Exclude  its  genial  rays,  and  darkness  which  may  be  felt  su- 
pervenes throughout  the  soul,  which  retards  the  development 
of  all  its  other  powers.  But  let  all  its  generous  emotions  be 
thawed  out  by  the  beams  of  true  devotion,  and  how  they  bask, 
and  grow,  and  thrive,  in  its  quickening  rays!  “ The  unde 
vout  astronomer  is  mad,”  and  the  irreverent  comparatively 
frigid.  We  were  all  created  to  worship  God,  as  much  as  to 
eat  or  breathe,  and  neglect  either  at  our  peril,  but  exercise  the 
former  or  the  latter  “ with  exceeding  great  reward.” 

Veneration  also  powerfully  restrains  abnormal  propensity, 
and  aids  Spirituality  in  securing  that  elevated  tone  of  all  the 
animal,  intellectual,  and  moral  powers,  so  promotive  of  enjoy- 
nent  276.  What  more  effectually  checks  boiling  passion  than 
the  thought,  “ Thou,  God,  seest  me  ?”  What  can  stimulate  to 
self-improvement  equally  with  the  love  for  that  bountiful  bene- 
factor who  bestowed  all  these  transcendent  gifts  ? Who  can 
love  God  supremely,  yet  cheat,  lie,  hate  his  neighbor,  swear, 
gormandize,  debauch,  or  commit  any  gross  sin  ? And  when 
temptations  entice,  and  resistance  fails,  what  overcomes 
“ easily-besetting  sins”  equally  with  fervent  prayer  ? An 
abiding  sense  of  the  Divine  presence  is  the  natural  antagonist 
and  antidote  of  depravity ; nor  till  the  propensities  have 
warped  or  else  stifled  Veneration,  can  they  who  truly  love 
God  deliberately  sin. 

Veneration  also  opens  the  mind  to  the  reception  of  universal 
truth.  The  passage — “If  any  man  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask 
of  God,  who  giveth  liberally” — means  something— means  that 
grayer  cultivates  an  intuitive  perception  of  truth276.  This 
oint  product  of  Veneration  and  Spirituality  is  facilitated  by 
their  juxtaposition.  That  we  should  unite  charity  with  wor- 
23 


266 


VENEARTION. 


ship,  is  taught  by  the  juxtaposition  of  Veneration  with  Benev. 
lenee,  and  that  we  should  consider  such  worship  a solemn 
duty,  by  the  near  residence  of  Conscientiousness. 

Veneration  is  also  located  nearer  than  any  other  organ  to 
that  “ seat  of  the  soul,”  151  or  grand  centre  of  the  nervous 
system  which  receives  all  impressions  and  issues  all  edicts. 
This  organ  lies  directly  above  this  “ holy  of  holies/’  so  that 
its  delightful  action  may  maintain  the  most  perfect  inter-rela- 
tion with  the  inner  temple  of  mind.  Hence,  love  and  worship 
of  God  diffuse  throughout  the  entire  brain  and  nervous  system 
a holy  spell,  which  sanctifies  them  all,  and  sheds  an  indescrib- 
able exquisiteness  throughout  mind  and  body.  The  patriarch 
mentioned  bottom  of  page  31,  in  answer  to  the  question, 
“ Are  you  more  happy,  or  less  so,  now,  than  formerly  Vf 
clasping  and  raising  both  hands  devoutly,  exclaimed,  “ O yes, 
I’m  so  thankful  now — I did  not  use  to  be — and  this  makes 
me  so  happy!77  The  beaming  countenance  and  eloquent 
extasy  with  which  he  uttered  “ SO  happy,77  showed  how  much 
more  happy  this  gratitude  rendered  him  than  tongue  could 
tell.  Mark:  it  was  his  additional  thankfulnf;ss  which  so  en- 
hanced his  joys.  He  added,  that  “for  those  daily  blessings, 
formerly  considered  matters  of  course  instead  of  subjects  of 
gratitude,  his  soul  now  overflowed  with  inexpressible  thanksgiv- 
ing, and  therefore  delight.77  I replied  : “ But  you  have  lost  all 
your  property,  most  of  your  friends,  several  children,  and 
three  wives,  and  now,  lonely  and  feeble,  are  obliged  to  earn 
your  precarious  subsistence  by  daily  toil77 — here  he  inter- 
rupted me  with  : “ All  this  is  nothing.  O He  is  so  infinitely 
better  to  me  than  I deserve.  I love  him  better  and  better 
every  day  I live,  and  it  makes  me  so  happy  !77  His  love  of 
God  rendered  him  thus  happy,  because  it  was  an  exercise  of 
Veneration,  the  proximity  of  which  to  the  great  nervous 
centre 151 , charged  both  body  and  brain  with  its  own  divine 
electricity.*  Veneration  is  the  great  central  organ  of  the 

* Disorder  ? the  nerves  produces  a tenderness  on  the  top  of  the  head, 
at  Veneration,  because  this  great  nervous  centre  is  in  the  middle  of  th« 
brain,  right  below  this  organ,  and  hence  cause,  as  in  Brainard,  Paysoa 
etc.,  religious  gloom — a beautiful  converse  of  the  doctrine  of  the  text. 


ITS  ABNORMAL  ACTION. 


267 


head — and  in  the  middle  of  the  top  head  The  other  moral 
organs  cluster  around  it,  so  that  as  it  is  they  become,  and  as 
they  are,  so  is  our  happiness.  How  absolute  our  proof,  that 
even  the  animal  faculties,  to  produce  enjoyment,  must  be 
sanctified  by  the  moral211.  And  in  order  that  the  moral  may 
govern  the  animal,  the  latter  must  be  stimulated  and  elevated 
by  Veneration.  By  a law  of  things,  then,  this  love  of  God  in 
the  soul  is  indispensable  to  human  happiness,  which  it  incal- 
culably promotes.  This,  reader,  is  the  sacred  key  of  the 
inexhaustible  store-house  of  human  enjoyment  and  personal 
perfection. 

The  converse  of  this  law  shows  why  to  rebel  against  God 
causes  such  complete  misery.  A woman  in  Philadelphia, 
a member  of  Dr.  Tyng’s  church,  indulged  by  father  and 
husband  in  whatever  she  wanted,  however  trifling  or  unrea- 
sonable, cursed  and  blasphemed  her  Maker  most  impiously 
for  taking  away  her  son  while  he  spared  other  children,  and, 
consequently,  was  a perfect  personification  of  agony  ; because 
when  Veneration  takes  on  an  abnormal  action,  it  produces 
as  much  pain  of  mind  and  body  as  its  normal  exercise  does 
pleasure,  and  for  the  same  reason — its  proximity  to  the  seat 
of  the  soul 151 . This  law  also  explains  and  causes  that  awful 
state  of  their  minds  who  fight  against  their  religious  convic- 
tions, as  well  as  the  extatic  joys  of  those  “ converts”  who 
yield  to  them.  O that  this  law  were  duly  understood  and 
practiced — that  this  joy-creating  faculty  were  intensely  and 
universally  exercised.  Why  should  infidels  pride  themselves 
in  their  infidelity  any  more  than  skeptics  in  their  unbelief?276 
Do  not  both,  in  neglecting  to  exercise  two  important  faculties, 
violate  a fundamental  law  of  the  mental  economy,  and  of 
course  incur  its  righteous  penalties  ? Let  them  ; but  let  us 
“ worship  God,”  and  secure  all  these  blessed  rewards  of 
obeying  it. 

How,  then,  can  a faculty  thus  freighted  with  enjoyment  be 
cultivated  ? By  its  exercise.  And  how  exercised  ? By 
contemplating  and  adoring  God.  As  food  excites  Appetite, 
property  Acquisitiveness,  danger  Cautiousness,  and  thus  of  all 
the  other  faculties215,  so  loving  God  for  his  infinite  perfections, 


208 


VENERATION 


and  thanking  him  for  his  loving  kindness,  excite  and  of  course 
enlarge  this  faculty,  as  do  also  “ keeping  the  fear  of  God 
always  before  our  eyes,”  and  “ whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or 
whatever  we  do,  doing  all  to  his  glory.”  We  should  contem- 
plate him  as  our  Fathrr,  not  as  an  austere  autocrat ; “ for 
God  is  love.”  His  goodness  is  infinite.  His  loveliness 
what  terrestrial  words,  what  celestial,  even,  can  express  ? 
Has  he  capacitated  us  to  become  infinitely  happy  here  1 2 3 and 
hereafter  274,  and  created  us  in  his  own  image?261 — does  he 
allow  himself  to  be  entreated  of  us  and  promise  us  to  “ see 
and  be  like  him” — and  shall  we  not  thank  him  with  our 
whole  souls,  and  love  him  with  all  our  might,  mind,  and 
strength  ? How  can  we  help  exulting  perpetually  with  adora- 
tion and  praise  ? 

Shall  not  those,  then,  in  whom  Veneration  is  deficient,  strive 
assiduously  to  cultivate  it?  O reflect  on  his  goodness  to  you, 
to  all,  and  you  will  spontaneously  adore  him  th:refor.  By  a 
daily,  hourly,  perpetual  thank-offering  alone  can  it  be  culti- 
vated 214. 

The  fore  part  of  this  organ  probably  respects  men,  reveres 
antiquity,  and  produces  conservatism.  Superiors  should  there- 
fore be  respected,  and  reformations  should  be  gradual,  not 
violent.  Republicanism  is  now  so  abused  as  to  savor  strongly 
of  lawlessness.  We  should  all  treat  our  fellow-men  with  due 
courtesy  and  deference,  venerate  the  aged,  and  yield  obe- 
dience to  our  country’s  laws. 

A faculty  thus  promotive  of  human  virtue  and  happiness 
should  by  all  means  be  cultivated  in  children.  The  most 
effectual  means  of  doing  this  is  to  be  devout  before  them. 
This,  family  devotion,  if  sincere  instead  of  formal,  and  ren- 
dered inviting  instead  of  repulsive,  facilitates.  Yet  it  should 
be  so  conducted  as  to  make  them  love  the  family  altar — by 
no  means  a difficult  matter.  If  they  hate  it,  it  injures  them 
by  searing  Veneration.  Religion  cannot  be  crammed  down 
them  by  force.  Render  it  delightful,  and  you  thereby  gain 
unlimited  power  over  them,  and  most  effectually  develop 
all  their  moral  faculties;  of  which  more  at  length  in  our 
summary. 


IN  YOUTH. 


269 


Mothers,  in  particular,  can  and  should  tleve*op  this  faculty 
in  their  children,  by  praying  with  and  for  them,  and  pointing 
out  to  them  the  goodness  of  God.  But  against  this  aweing 
them  in  view  of  his  sovereignty,  and  making  them  fear  him 
as  a stern  tyrant,  Phrenology  utterly  protests.  It  says  they 
should  be  induced  to  love  him  ; but  how  is  it  possible  to  love 
what  we  fear  ? Is  telling  them  that  he  is  an  arbitrary  despot, 
or  what  amounts  to  this,  the  way  to  win  them  over  to  devotion 
and  goodness  ? Children  hate  tyrants — are  compelled  to— 
and  will  therefore  hate  God  just  as  far  as  he  is  represented  as 
an  austere  sovereign.  More  infidels  have  been  made  by  pre- 
senting this  odious  as  well  as  erroneous  view  of  his  character, 
than  by  all  the  infidel  lectures  and  prints  in  the  world. 

Nor  can  the  minister  or  Sabbath-school  duly  develop  this 
sentiment  in  children,  because  they  rarely  see  the  former,  and 
fear  him  when  they  do,  and  attend  the  latter  only  one  hour 
per  week  ; whereas  this  faculty  requires  daily  food,  as  much 
as  their  bodies  2l4.  And  even  this  hour  is  too  often  spent  in 
teaching  some  ism  which  cramps  instead  of  developing  devotion. 
Why  must  every  sect  have  its  Sabbath-school  ? To  teach  its 
own  tenets.  This  is  the  main  perpetuity  of  sectarianism. 
And  then  this  rigging  youth  off  in  gaudy  fashions  to  parade 
the  streets,  as  puppet-shows,  is  most  pernicious  259.  Still, 
though  parents  send  their  children  to  church  and  school,  yet 
they  themselves  must  develop  their  Veneration,  or  it  must 
lie  dormant.  We  have  already  proved  that  they  must  educate 
their  own  children  221  222,  and  to  nothing  does  this  law  apply 
equally  with  religious  education,  the  importance  of  which  is 
paramount.  Were  Sabbath-schools  conducted  ever  so  well, 
still  parents,  in  becoming  parents,  place  themselves  under  the 
most  solemn  obligations,  from  which  there  is  no  discharge,  to 
develop  their  children’s  moral  affections.  That  these  should 
be  paramount,  is  a cardinal  doctrine  of  this  work,  and  another 
is  that  parents  must  educate  their  own  children 221,  and  of 
course  develop  their  moral  faculties.  As  far  as  Sabbath* 
schools  furnish  parents  an  excuse  for  neglecting  this  duty, 
they  are  most  injurious.  In  infants,  Veneration  is  small. 

Children  should  also  be  taught  to  respect  superiors,  and 
23* 


270 


BENEVOLENCE. 


bow  to  the  aged.  We  too  generally  allow  them  to  grow 
up  almost  impertinent.  Our  institutions  rather  favor  in 
subordination,  if  not  rowdyism.  This  tendency  should  bo 
counteracted. 


280.  RESTRAINT  AND  DUE  REGULATION. 

Veneration  cannot  be  too  large,  yet  may  be  perverted  — 
indeed,  generally  is.  Most  of  our  religion  is  spurious — a 
libel  on  the  character  of  God  and  the  duties  of  man,  and  a 
public  curse  instead  of  blessing.  Wherein,  need  not  here  be 
shown,  but  will  be  seen  in  “ Natural  Religion.5’  Indeed, 
this  chapter  presents  but  a limited  view  of  this  vitally  impor- 
tant subject— only  enough  to  enforce  the  importance  and 
means  of  cultivating  Veneration,  without  developing  any  of 
those  delightful  inferences  which  grow  out  of  a full  view  of 
religion  as  taught  by  Phrenology.  This  view  that  work  will 
contain.  It  is  especially  important  that  youth  be  taught  the 
true  religion. 


19.  BENEVOLENCE/ 

“ It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.” 

281.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  FUNCTION. 

Kindness  ; humanity  ; desire  to  make  others  happy  ; an 
accommodating,  neighborly  spirit ; sympathy  for  distress  ; 
a self-sacrificing  disposition ; philanthropy  ; generosity. 
Located  between  Veneration  278  and  Human  Nature.  It  is 
very  large  in  Gosse  248,  but  small  in  Gotfried. 

Large  Benevolence  delights  to  do  good,  and  gladly  makes 
personal  sacrifices  to  render  others  happy ; cannot  witness 
pain  or  distress ; and  does  all  it  can  to  relieve  them  ; counter- 
acts selfishness,  and  manifests  a perpetual  flow  of  disinterested 
goodness. 

Small  Benevolence  allows  the  other  faculties  to  trespass 
upon  the  rights  of  others ; is  callous  to  the  woes  of  others ; 
does  few  acts  of  kindness,  and  those  grudgingly ; and  allows 
selfishness. 


ITS  LOCATION* 


371 


BENEVOLENCE  LARGE 


272 


BENEVOLENCE. 


282.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Happiness  is  the  one  constitutional  product  of  humanity™ 
of  creation — the  only  legimate  function  of  every  organ  and 
faculty  of  man,  of  all  that  is  or  can  be 1 2 2. 

Nor  is  divine  goodness  the  ulterior  end  of  all  things  merely  ; 
but  this  happiness-creating  element  is  also  found  stamped 
upon  the  human  soul.  Man  is  both  a sentient  being,  capaci- 
tated to  enjoy  and  suffer  individually,  and  also  so  inter-related 
to  his  fellow-man,  as  to  be  capable  of  enhancing  the  happi- 
ness and  diminishing  the  miseries  of  mankind.  If  he  could 
experience  neither  pleasure  nor  pain,  or  if  all  were  isolated 
from  all,  so  that  they  could  neither  communicate  nor  receive 
good,  Benevolence  would  have  been  out  of  place.  But  it  so 
is,  that  man  can  both  enjoy  and  suffer,  and  also  promote  the 
happiness  and  assuage  the  miseries  of  his  fellow-men,  and  of 
brutes. 

To  this  ordinance  of  nature,  Benevolence  is  adapted,  and 
adapts  man.  Without  it,  man  would  be  perfectly  callous 
to  the  sufferings  of  others,  and  hence  comparatively  unre- 
strained from  causing  pain,  and  even  taking  life,  which  Com- 
bativeness and  Destructiveness  would  prompt  him  to  do,  where- 
as this  faculty  makes  him  shudder  to  cause  suffering  or  death. 
Without  it,  our  world  would  be  one  vast  Golgotha  of  anguish. 
Not  one  good  Samaritan  would  be  found  in  all  its  borders  ; 
but  this  humane  element  dresses  wounds  caused  by  violated 
law,  and  pours  the  oil  of  consolation  into  the  troubled  soul. 
Nor  can  words  express  the  amount  of  human  happiness  which 
flows  from  the  exercise  of  this  faculty.  From  no  other  foun- 
tain of  human  nature  more.  Great  as  are  the  moral  virtues — 
justice  968 , faith  275,  hope  272,  and  devotion  279 — the  greatest  of  all 
is  “ charity.’7  It  is  to  the  human  character  what  the  benev- 
olence of  God  is  to  the  divine — the  final  goal  to  which  all  the 
others  tend  l. 

It  also  blesses  giver  “ even  more  ” than  receiver.  The  ex- 
ercise of  our  various  powers  confers  all  the  happiness  we  can 
experience,  and  none  more  than  this  faculty.  Its  exercise,  in 
the  very  nature  of  things,  venders  its  possessor  happy,  while 


HELPING  THE  POOR. 


273 


selfishness  interdicts  one  of  the  most  exalted  enjoyments  of 
our  being.  Hence,  though  all  our  faculties  should  be  culti- 
tivated,  Benevolence,  more  than  almost  any  other,  should  be 
in  constant  action.  Shall  God  promote  the  happiness  of  all 
his  creatures,  in  every  work  of  his  hands,  and  shall  not  man, 
too,  be  “ co-workers’’  with  him  ? Shall  we  receive  a constant 
outpouring  of  every  conceivable  means  of  enjoyment  from 
him,  and  shall  we  not  do  by  others  as  we  would  that  God 
should  do  by  us  ? Allowed  to  be  partakers  with  him  in  this 
glorious  work  of  disseminating  happiness,  shall  we  not  accept 
the  divine  proffer  ? An  example  thus  set  us  by  Infinite  Good- 
ness, shall  we  not  follow  ? Even  in  order  to  secure  our  own 
happiness  we  must  seek  that  of  others.  “ Blessed  are  the 
merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy.” 

And  that  we  may  never  lack  opportunities  of  doing  good, 
“the  poor  we  have  always  with  us.”  Yet  how  negligent  are 
we  of  the  duty  we  owe  them  ! We  have  indeed  provided  poor- 
houses  for  them  ; but  many  will  suffer  most  direfully  before 
they  will  consent  “to  come  upon  the  town.”  Such  are  often 
the  most  deserving,  and  should  be  sought  out  and  aided  in 
some  delicate  way,  which  shall  not  wound  their  pride.  Pub 
lie  institutions  can  never  take  the  place  of  private  charity. 
We  must  do  good  in  person,  and  from  love  of  it — must  feed 
the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  visit  the  sick,  and  scatter  hap 
piness  wherever  we  go,  with  our  own  hands.  This  alone 
exercises  Benevolence,  and  secures  its  reward. 

Yet  we  can  often  do  great  good  without  giving  money. 
We  can  frequently  help  the  poor  far  more  effectually  by  help- 
ing them  help  themselves,  than  by  direct  donations.  Indeed, 
the  latter  way  is  by  far  the  best.  The  Quaker  method  of 
supporting  their  poor  is  as  efficacious  as  admirable,  and  should 
supersede  poor-houses.  Employment  should  be  furnished  to 
those  who  are  able  and  willing  to  work,  and  they  paid  liberal 
wages.  This  taking  advantage  of  their  necessities  to  “ grind 
their  faces,”  is  outrageous.  Rather  pay  them  over  than  under 
the  real  worth.  Let  those  who  own  land  give  the  needy  an 
opportunity  to  raise  their  own  produce,  and  thus  encourage 
industry.  This  giving  to  mendicants  of  whom  you  know 


274 


BENEVOLENCE. 


nothing,  often  subjects  the  donor  to  imposition,  as  well  as 
injures  recipients,  by  furnishing  them  with  the  means  of  get- 
ting drunk,  and  the  like.  There  are  always  enough  whom 
we  know  to  be  deserving. 

The  London  Times,  after  arguing  the  utter  folly  of  attempt- 
ing to  feed  all  their  poor  by  donation,  urges  one  most  noble 
suggestion — that  those  gentlemen’s  immense  parks,  now  ren- 
dered comparatively  unproductive  by  being  kept  for  hunting- 
grounds,  be  made  accessible  to  the  poor,  so  that  they  can 
raise  thereon  the  necessaries  of  life.  To  prevent  the  tillage 
of  land  while  human  beings  are  starving  for  what  they  would, 
if  allowed,  raise  upon  it,  is  utterly  wrong.  The  earth  is  the 
common  birth-right  of  all  God’s  children.  Every  member  of 
the  human  family  has  an  “ inalienable  right”  to  food  245,  and 
the  means  of  procuring  it — that  is,  if  he  cannot  attain  it 
without,  to  the  use  of  as  much  land  as  will  give  him  his 
“daily  bread.”  This  fencing  in  land  from  the  famishing,  for 
pleasure-grounds  merely,  and  putting  in  the  pocket  of  exclu- 
siveness deeds  of  thousands  of  acres  on  which  to  speculate,  is 
an  outrage  on  human  rights — is  robbery  on  a great  scale.  As 
well  speculate  in  the  air  of  heaven,  and  let  those  suffocate 
who  cannot  buy  it  at  exorbitant  profits  ! Buy  the  privilege 
of  living!  Western  “squatters”  are  right.  The  public 
lands  should  be  free  to  occupants.  Grant  this,  and  we  should 
have  no  poor,  for  it  would  render  produce  cheap  and  wages 
high. 

Planting  fruit-trees  by  the  wayside,  and  in  unoccupied 
land,  and  allowing  the  poor  to  gather  their  own  fruit,  and  sel. 
the  balance  for  grain,  would  subserve  a similar  end ; but  of 
this  in  “ Natural  Religion.”  Providing  for  the  necessities  of 
the  poor  would  also  banish  most  crimes,  as  well  as  wretched- 
ness, and  thus  save  the  enormous  expenses  of  courts,  prisons, 
and  lawyers.  Poverty  is  a prolific  parent  of  robbery,  bur- 
glary, murder,  etc.  ; and  a generous  public  spirit  and  provi- 
sion for  the  poor  would  both  remove  all  excuse,  and  also  bind 
all  so  cordially  to  all,  in  the  strong  bonds  of  brotherly  love, 
as  effectually  to  suppress  most  forms  of  wickedness.  Kind- 
ness will  convert  the  most  hardened  into  good  members  of 


THE  UBLIC  LANDS. 


275 


society.  The  selfishness  of  society  provokes  most  of  those 
outrages  on  its  laws  and  peace  which  we  try  to  arrest  by  pun- 
ishment, but  in  vain. 

Public  pleasure-grounds,  and  as  much  community  of  interest 
as  possible,  will  also  facilitate  this  result.  Let  the  grasping 
rapacity  of  the  rich  be  interdicted,  and  a general  good  feeling 
between  all  classes  take  the  place  of  existing  animosities  and 
impositions,  and  crime  would  be  almost  banished.  We  begin 
at  the  wrong  end.  Men  can  be  coaxed  to  be  good  better  than 
driven.  But  of  this,  also,  in  “ Natural  Religion.” 

Especially  should  professing  Christians,  like  their  great 
Exemplar,  “go  about  doing  good.”  But  do  they  ? Should 
such  ride  in  splendid  carriages,  live  in  princely  palaces,  amass 
fortunes,  and  then  despise  their  poor  fellow-beings,  because 
of  their  poverty  ? Away  with  this  I-am-better-than-thou- 
because-I-am-rich  Christianity ! Hot  ice  is  not  more  impos- 
sible than  for  such  to  gain  his  favor  while  they  violate 
every  doctrine  he  taught,  every  practice  he  enjoined.  On 
the  day  of  Pentecost  “ they  had  all  things  common,”  and 
“ went  from  house  to  house  breaking  bread  and  giving  alms.” 
Would  that  we  had  more  Christianity  and  less  pretension. 
And  let  us  all  do  whatever  good  we  can,  in  all  the  walks  of 
life — not  merely  by  relieving  human  wo,  but  especially  by 
that  kind,  humane  conduct  and  carriage  which  this  faculty 
always  produces. 

Yet  acts  of  individual  charity  by  no  means  constitute  the 
widest  or  most  profitable  field  for  the  exercise  of  this  faculty. 
Men  have  minds  as  well  as  bodies.  We  can  often  benefit  the 
rich  even  more  than  the  poor.  Nor  by  condolence  mere- 
ly— often  a source  of  great  relief  and  comfort — but  by  re- 
forming them.  Mankind,  from  being  thus  wretched,  are  des- 
tined to  become  inconceivably  happy.  Every  evil  is  to  be 
done  away,  and  every  human  power  to  enjoy  developed.  This 
progressive  doctrine  pervades  our  work.  But  all  this  is  to  be 
brought  about  by  means.  And  those  means  must  be  used  by 
men.  These  are  the  largest  fields  in  which  to  exercise  Be- 
nevolence— fields  all  whitened  for  the  harvest.  Individual 
charity  only  lops  off  now  and  then  a twig  of  the  great  tree  of 


276 


BENE'OLSKCE. 


human  wo.  We  jan  and  should  lay  the  ax  at  the  root. 
Thus,  though  feeding  and  clothing  a few  of  those  wives  and 
children  brought  to  want  by  intemperate  fathers  and  husbands, 
may  do  good,  yet  to  prevent  this  misery-generating  traffic,  and 
render  the  inebriate  temperate,  would  do  infinitely  more ; 
because  the  labors  of  the  reformed  father  would  then  pro- 
vide for  them  far  better  than  private  donations,  and  at  the 
same  time  render  them  inexpressibly  happy  in  the  restoration 
of  their  father  and  husband  to  their  affections.  Nor  should 
we  slumber  over  such  public  misery-breeders,  but  resolutely 
attack  and  demolish  them.  And  thus  of  many  other  evils, 
and  their  causes. 

Our  world  is  full  of  like  causes  of  depravity  and  wo.  And 
these  causes  must  be  removed.  And  every  one  of  us  is  un- 
der a moral  obligation  to  do  all  we  can  to  obviate  them.  To 
sleep  over  this  glorious  work  is  sinful ; to  engage  in  doing  it 
is  the  greatest  privilege  of  mortals.  And  to  do  it,  men  require, 
more  than  anything  else,  a knowledge  of  the  causes  and  cure 
of  their  miseries ; and  we  should  all  embrace  and  make  every 
possible  opportunity  for  obtaining  and  diffusing  this  knowledge. 
The  glorious  field  of  human  reformation,  now  all  white  for  the 
harvest,  we  should  all  labor  with  our  utmost  endeavors  to 
gather.  But  more  of  this  subject  in  “ Natural  Religion.” 

Special  pains  should  of  course  be  taken  to  develop,  by  con- 
stant cultivation,  so  important  a faculty  as  this  in  the  young. 
It  is  small  till  about  the  second  year,  because  nature  will  not 
spend  her  energies  in  developing  it  till  they  are  old  enough  to 
do  good  with  it ; but  from  two  years  old  upward  it  becomes 
one  of  their  most  prominent  organs.  Hence  they  should  be 
pleasantly  requested  to  do  those  numberless  little  errands  and 
favors  which  so  effectually  promote  the  happiness  of  all  around 
them,  and  in  the  doing  of  which  they  take  so  much  pleasure. 
They  delight  ir  action,  and  love  to  oblige,  and  these  little  runs 
gratify  both.  Their  natural  pleasantness  and  good-nature, 
and  that  gushing  fountain  of  disinterested  Benevolence  which 
flow  forth  in  every  action  and  feature  of  lovely  childhood, 
and  shed  so  much  happiness  on  all  around,  should  by  all 
Tneans  be  encouraged,  both  for  their  own  sakes  and  that,  when 


IN  THE  YOUNG. 


277 


grown  up,  they  may  Hess  all  around  by  their  goodness  instead 
of  curse  all  by  their  selfishness.  To  secure  so  desirable  a 
result,  various  simple  yet  efficacious  expedients  may  be  de- 
vised, among  which  kindness  to  them  stands  first.  Benevo. 
lence  excites  Benevolence215;  so  that  every  favor  you  do 
them,  provided  your  manner  is  also  kind,  awakens  this  divine 
sentiment  in  them.  Evince  a deep  and  permanent  interest  in 
their  welfare,  and  a disposition  to  gratify  them  whenever  to 
do  so  is  proper,  and,  depend  upon  it,  they  too  will  always  be 
good  to  you  and  to  all  around  them. 

Also  encourage  liberality  in  them,  and  see  that  their  gen- 
erosity is  amply  rewarded.  Give  them  things,  and  encourage 
their  sharing  them  with  each  other.  Especially  show  them 
how  much  more  they  enjoy  what  they  divide.  When  they 
refuse  to  give,  show  them  how  unhappy  their  selfishness  ren- 
ders them.  Give  them  a full  supply,  so  that  they  shall  not 
want,  even  if  they  are  liberal.  Be  generous  to  them  and  they 
also  will  give  freely ; but  stint  them,  and  they  will  give  spar- 
ingly and  grudgingly.  Mothers  especially  should  improve 
those  thousands  of  incidents  furnished  by  their  plays  for 
developing  this  faculty, 

Above  all,  take  special  pains  not  to  let  them  witness  animal 
butchery.  Send  them  from  home  killing  days,  if  such  days 
must  come.  Yet  many  boys  are  allowed  even  to  go  from 
home  to  witness  it.  At  first  they  always  shudder  at  the  sight 
as  something  most  horrible  42  43,  and  so  it  is  235.  A girl  in 
whom  Benevolence  is  large,  on  seeing  a calf  going  to  be 
slaughtered,  besought  her  father  to  buy  it  in  order  to  spare 
its  life,  which  he  gratified  her  by  doing.  She  never  allows 
herself  to  taste  animal  food,  because  its  consumption  aug- 
ments its  slaughter,  the  thoughts  of  which  she  cannot  endure. 

Nor  should  adults  sear  their  Benevolence  by  witnessing  or 
perpetrating  such  slaughter,  because  this  arraying  Destruc- 
tiveness against  Benevolence,  blunts  the  latter  42  217.  The  na- 
turally large  Benevolence  of  a friend  of  the  author,  who 
resided  near  a place  of  animal  torture,  was  so  wrought  up  by 
their  piteous  groans,  and  by  the  blows  with  which  they  were 
beaten  while  dying,  so  as  to  make  their  meat  tender,  that  he 
24 


278 


BENEVOLENCE. 


finally  remonstrated  with  the  butcher,  but  to  no  effect.  At 
last,  he  threatened  to  make  him  groan  if  he  heard  any  more 
such  bellowings  in  his  yard,  and  in  a manner  so  determined 
as  to  put  a stop  to  them.  He  would  not  suffer  his  own  Benev- 
olence, or  that  of  his  family,  to  be  thus  calloused. 

Shooting  birds  is,  if  possible,  still  worse ; because,  though 
their  sufferings  are  short,  yet  such  wanton  destruction  of  these 
happy,  harmless  songsters,  sears  the  gunner’s  Benevolence. 
Hunting  birds  exerts  a most  pernicious  and  hardening  influ- 
ence on  boys.  Besides,  why  deprive  us  of  the  pleasure  of 
listening  to  their  sweet  warblings  ? They  also  preserve  vege- 
tation by  devouring  worms.  Probably,  an  abundance  and 
variety  of  birds  would  destroy  the  insect  of  late  so  detrimen- 
tal to  the  wheat,  potato,  and  other  crops.  Wrens,  when  bee- 
hives are  elevated,  go  under  them  mornings,  and  consume 
that  fatal  enemy  of  these  sweet-collectors,  the  worm.  All 
wanton  destruction  violates  Benevolence,  and  must  therefore 
be  injurious  in  all  its  effects.  He  is  practically  inhuman  who 
“ needlessly  sets  foot  upon  a worm.” 

If  it  be  objected,  that  to  kill  wild  and  noxious  animals, 
hawks  included,  is  necessary  to  human  happiness,  the  answer 
is,  that  nature  causes  them  to  retire  at  the  approach  of  man ; 
and  this  saves  the  wear  and  tear  of  Benevolence  in  killing 
them.  Still  there  is  less,  if  any,  objection  to  their  destruction  ; 
but  robbing  harmless  birds  of  life,  just  from  love  of  killing,  is 
most  barbarous. 

283.  RESTRAINT  AND  DUE  REGULATION. 

Though  this  faculty  cannot  be  too  powerful,  provided  it  is 
rightly  directed,  yet  it  is  often  exercised  most  injudiciously,  so 
as  to  do  much  more  harm  than  good.  How  many  have  failed, 
ruined  their  creditors,  and  beggared  dependent  families,  by 
lending,  endorsing,  and  yielding  to  sympathy,  in  opposition  to 
judgment?  How  much  more  good  they  could  have  done  by 
spending  their  money  otherwise  ! Those  who  solicit  help  most 
urgently,  too  often  deserve  it  least.  Give,  but  let  it  be  judi- 
ciously. But  never  endorse.  If  you  have  a surplus,  give  it 
outright,  and  lend  only  what  you  can  afford  to  lose.  Rather 


CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 


279 


give  to  the  needy  than  lend  or  endorse,  except  in  extreme 
cases.  Govern  this  faculty  by  intellect,  and  be  just  before 
being  generous. 


20.  CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 

“Man  is  a tool-using  animal.” 

284.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION  LARGE,  AND  SMALL. 

The  making  instinct  and  talent ; manual  dexterity  in  using 
tools  ; ingenuity  ; sleight  of  hand  in  constructing  things, 
and  turning  off  work,  or  whatever  is  done  with  the  hands  ; 
disposition  and  ability  to  tinker,  mend,  fix  up,  make,  build, 
manufacture,  employ  machinery,  and  the  like. 

Large  Constructiveness  loves  to  make,  and  gives  an  excel- 
lent practical  idea  of  the  best  mode  of  constructing  things, 
as  well  as  manual  skill  and  dexterity  in  executing  all  kinds 
of  work,  writing,  drawing,  sewing,  folding,  managing  ma- 
chinery, packings,  and  whatever  we  do  with  our  hands.  It 
also  relates  to  the  construction  of  ideas  in  sentences,  dis- 
courses, and  works. 

Small  Constructiveness  is  deficient  in  these  respects,  awk- 
ward in  manual  exertion,  fails  in  understanding  and  working 
machinery,  writes  and  uses  tools  bunglingly,  and  lacks  mental 
as  well  as  physical  construction.  Located  two  inches  for- 
ward, and  one  upward  of  Acquisitiveness  248. 

285.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Everything  which  is,  is  made.  All  nature  is  one  vast 
workshop,  and  all  things  in  and  on  the  earth  are  the  manufac- 
tured wares  of  the  great  Maker  of  the  universe.  And  the 
skill  and  ingenuity  displayed  in  every  work  of  his  hands  are 
indeed  infinite  l Everything  constructed  in  the  test  possible 
manner  to  subserve  the  great  end  of  its  creation.  Every 
organ  perfect  in  formation  and  function,  and  located  just  where 
it  can  execute  its  mission  to  the  best  advantage  ! Behold  the 
infinite  mechanical  perfection  of  the  eye,  ear,  lungs,  heart ! 


280 


CONSTRUCTR  EJNESS. 


How  infinitely  minute  yet  perfect  the  capillary  ramifications 
of  blood-vessels,  glands,  nerves,  muscles,  fibres,  etc. ! How 
inimitably  perfect  in  invention  and  execution  the  mechanism 
of  the  human  body  ! Nothing  superfluous.  Nothing  wanted 
but  is  supplied.  Its  functions,  how  numerous,  how  complica- 
ted, how  efficient ! Yet  every  one  of  them  effected  by  terms 
instrumentality,  for  nature  never  works  without  tools. 
Though  we  do  not  understand  a hundredth  part  of  those  con- 
trivances employed  throughout  the  human  body,  yet  what  we 
do  understand  is  worthy  of  all  admiration. 

The  Infinite  Mechanist  of  the  universe  has  also  stamped 
upon  all  his  works  certain  mechanical  laws,  which  are  gen- 
erally self-acting.  Of  this  the  heart,  lungs,  stomach,  and  al  . 
our  physical  functions  furnish  examples.  They  “ whistle 
themselves”  in  their  growth,  their  various  functions,  and  their 
decline. 

This  self-acting  principle  doubtless  moves  the  earth,  sun, 
and  stars  through  their  immense  cycles,  and  both  generates 
and  applies  the  power  required  to  propel  such  huge  masses 
with  such  mighty  velocity  and  precision.  The  Newtonian 
theory  is  probably  incorrect.  The  true  one  will  doubtless  be 
found  to  proceed  on  certain  simple  yet  efficient  mechanical 
principles — to  embrace  a self-moving  and  self-regulating 
law  of  perpetual  motion.  That  principle  undoubtedly  exists 
in  nature,  and  will  yet  be  discovered  and  applied  by  man — not 
by  any  arrangement  of  machinery,  but  by  the  generation  and 
combination  probably  of  some  application  of  those  two  forces — 
self- attracting  and  repelling — which  constitute  magnetism, 
light,  heat,  galvanism — all  the  same — and  which  produce 
growth,  and  probably  constitute  the  motive  power  of  universal 
nature. 

But  however  perfect  all  that  physical  mechanism  of  nature 
which  attains  ends  so  countless  in  number  and  promotive  of 
happiness,  yet  all  this  is  nothing  compared  with  the  mechanism 
manifested  in  the  construction  of  the  human  mind.  Here,  all 
attempts  at  description  only  beggar  it.  None  but  the  profound 
phrenologist  C£n  comprehend  its  beauty  or  perfection,  nor 
<ie  only  begin.  I admire  the  works  of  God — full  of  the 


ITS  OFFICE  AND  CULTIVATION. 


281 


divinity  of  their  Infinite  Author.  But  thou,  O mind  ! excellest 
them  all.  Think  of  it.  The  creation  of  an  immaterial, 
immortal,  sentient,  and  thinking  entity,  capable  of  all  the 
varied  emotions,  desires,  and  operations  we  perform,  and  in 
such  almost  angelic  power ! O,  thou  Maker  of  heaven,  earth, 
and  the  human  soul ! thy  works,  like  thyself,  are  indeed  infi- 
nite ! And  thy  last,  thy  most  perfect.  “Here  the  whole 
Deity  is  shown.” 

Man,  too,  is  endowed  with  this  making  instinct  and  capa- 
bility. Constituted  so  as  to  require  houses,  garments,  tools, 
agricultural,  mechanical,  and  other  implements,  as  well  as 
machinery,  without  this  faculty  adapted  to  such  requisition, 
he  could  never  make  a single  article,  nor  do  anything  what- 
ever with  his  hands.  But  with  it,  the  farmer,  mechanic,  and 
laborer  execute  every  stroke  with  the  hammer,  saw,  ax, 
scythe,  and  every  other  tool  used  by  man ; the  builder  con- 
structs houses  and  palaces ; the  machinist  invents  and  con- 
structs labor-saving  machinery  of  all  kinds,  and  therewith 
makes  all  sorts  of  fabrics  and  articles  of  comfort  and  luxury ; 
and  even  compels  water,  wind,  and  steam  to  become  his  work- 
men. Behold  that  floating  palace ! See  her  plough  the 
mighty  deep,  perform  her  prescribed  voyages,  and  even  outride 
that  terrific  gale ! Every  breeze,  from  whatever  quarter, 
propels  her  forward.  The  very  winds  are  her  servants.  See 
the  innumerable  machines  all  over  the  land,  executing  all 
sorts  of  labor  for  the  comfort  of  man.  Behold  the  human  face 
divine  transferred  to  canvass  and  the  Daguerrian  disk  ! How 
beautiful,  how  necessary,  the  possession  of  this  faculty  of 
man  ; and  how  innumerable  and  great  the  good  it  confers ! 

A faculty  thus  promotive  of  human  happiness  should  of 
course  be  cultivated.  The  idea  that  none  but  mechanics 
require  this  element,  is  a great  mistake.  Every  human  being 
uses  it,  in  all  to  which  he  puts  his  hands.  All  farmers  and 
workers  in  any  and  all  sorts  of  manual  occupations ; all  mer- 
chants in  putting  up,  taking  down,  cutting,  packing,  folding, 
and  wrapping  their  goods ; all  who  use  the  pen  in  making 
letters  and  words ; all  who  frame  books,  essays,  paragraphs, 
or  sentences ; all  who  speak  in  public  or  converse  in  private, 
24* 


282 


CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 


or  even  think  or  feel ; all  who  do  anything,  in  whatever  they 
do,  as  well  as  mechanics  proper — all  mankind,  rich  and  poor, 
wise  and  foolish,  old  and  young — require  and  use  this  construct- 
ing instinct  and  capability.  All  should  therefore  cultivate  it — 
artists,  mechanics,  operatives,  and  workers,  that  they  may 
excel  in  their  respective  pursuits — and  still  more  those  who 
would  live  by  or  enjoy  their  mental  powers. 

Skill  in  the  use  of  tools  is  of  incalculable  value  to  all.  It 
will  enable  them  to  execute  many  jobs,  trifling  and  important, 
which  they  can  do  for  themselves  better  than  any  one  else  can 
x do  for  them. 

Its  cultivation  will  also  greatly  facilitate  that  muscular  ex- 
ercise shown  in  “ Physiology”  to  be  indispensable  to  health  and 
talents  138  139  140  143  145.  On  this  account,  if  no  ather,  the  rich 
should  perform  some  kind  of  manual  labor  daily.  But  we 
need  not  repeat. 

A good  CHIROGRAPHY — a plain,  easy,  and  rapid  formation 
of  letters  and  words — is  of  great  utility  in  all  stations  in  life, 
and  is  secured  in  part  by  Constructiveness,  and  should  be  cul- 
tivated by  all.  And  to  acquire  this,  drawing  should  be  taught 
along  with  writing.  Both  consist  in  transferring  forms  to 
paper,  and  greatly  aid  each  other.  In  fact,  reading,  writing, 
and  drawing,  are  virtually  one,  and  should  be  taught  together. 
On  this  point,  Hon.  Horace  Mann,  State  superintendent  of 
Massachusetts’  schools,  says,  in  a report  of  visits  to  schools  in 
Europe:  “ Such  excellent  handwriting  as  I saw  in  the  Prus- 
sian schools,  I never  saw  before.  I can  hardly  express  myself 
too  strongly  on  this  point.  In  Great  Britain,  France,  or  in 
our  own  country,  I have  never  seen  schools  worth}'  to  be  com- 
pared with  theirs,  in  this  respect.  This  superiority  cannot  be 
attributed  in  any  degree  to  a better  manner  of  holding  the 
pen,  for  I never  saw  so  great  a proportion  in  any  schools 
where  the  pen  is  so  awkwardly  held.  This  excellence  must 
be  referred  in  a great  degree  to  the  universal  practice  of 
drawing  contemporaneously  with  learning  to  write.  I believe 
a child  will  learn  both  to  draw  and  write  sooner  and  with  more 
ease  than  he  will  learn  writing  alone.  In  the  course  of  my 
tour,  I passed  from  countries  where  almost  every  pupil  in  the 


TOOLS  FOR  CHILDREN. 


283 


school  could  draw  with  ease,  and  most  of  them  with  no  incon- 
siderable degree  of  beauty  and  expression,  to  those  where 
drawing  was  not  practiced  at  all,  and  I came  to  the  conclusion 
that,  with  no  other  guide  but  the  copy-books  of  the  pupils,  I 
could  tell  whether  drawing  were  taught  in  school  or  not.” 

Mr.  Mann  adds : “ Drawing,  of  itself,  is  an  expressive  and 
beautiful  language.  A few  strokes  of  the  pen,  or  pencil,  will 
often  represent  to  the  eye  what  no  amount  of  words,  however 
well  chosen,  can  communicate.  For  the  master  architect, 
for  the  engraver,  the  engineer,  the  pattern-designer,  the 
draughtsman,  moulder,  machine-builder,  or  head  mechanic 
of  any  kind,  all  acknowledge  that  this  art  is  essential  and 
indispensable.  But  there  is  no  department  of  business  or 
condition  of  life  where  this  accomplishment  would  not  be  of 
utility.” 

This  faculty  should  of  course  be  cultivated  in  children. 
In  them,  this  organ  is  usually  large,  and  faculty  active,  and 
hence  their  fondness  for  hammers,  nails,  knives,  and  tools. 
This  tool-using  propensity  should  be  indulged,  and  they  en- 
couraged to  make  and  use  kites,  wind-mills,  mill-dams,  water- 
wheels, bows  and  arrows,  cross-guns,  miniature  sleds,  boats, 
railroads,  steam-engines,  etc.  Instead  of  this,  when  boys 
draw  pictures  on  slates,  in  place  of  ciphering,  they  are  scolded 
or  chastised.  Let  drawing  be  encouraged.  I would  give  a 
handsome  proportion  of  all  I am  worth  to  be  able  to  draw  ac- 
curately, so  that  I could  sketch  and  draw,  exactly  to  suit  me, 
such  phrenological  heads  and  illustrations  as  I often  meet  in 
real  life ; whereas  now,  I am  compelled  to  obtain  but  few,  and 
then  to  trust  to  artists  who  do  not  understand  phrenology.* 
Furnish  children  with  tools.  Let  them  have  knives,  and  be 
encouraged  to  whittle,  carve,  make  sleds,  wagons,  etc.,  and 
even  have  a shop  of  their  own,  supplied  with  tools  with  which 
to  tinker.  And  this  is  doubly  important  to  those  who  are  del- 
icate, as  a means  of  strengthening  their  muscles,  drawing  the 

* The  importance  of  combining  a knowledge  of  Phrenology  with  the 
arts,  especially  with  portrait  painting  and  engraving,  is  very  great,  and 
too  apparent  to  require  comment.  In  a few  years  every  artist  must  be 
a phrenologist,  or  be  out  of  employ. 


284 


IDEALITY. 


blood  and  energies  from  their  heads  to  their  muscles,  and 
equalizing  their  circulation. 

286.  RESTRAINT  AND  DUE  REGULATION 

Whenever  this  faculty  encroaches  unduly  on  our  time  or 
other  duties,  it  should  not  be  indulged.  Many  have  spent 
their  all  in  fruitless  endeavors  to  invent  perpetual  motion,  and 
many  others  rendered  themselves  wretched  by  spending  time 
and  money  on  inventions  which  never  amount  to  anything. 
Large  Hope  combined  with  large  Constructiveness  still  far- 
ther enhances  the  evil  by  promising  great  success  without  any 
solid  foundation. 

But  the  most  important  direction,  after  all,  is  never  to  make 
anything  not  useful.  All  the  Deity  makes  is  beneficial ; and 
all  we  make  should  subserve  an  excellent  purpose,  else  it  is 
not  worth  making. 


21.  IDEALITY. 

287.  DEFINITION,  FUNCTION,  AND  LOCATION. 

Perception  and  admiration  of  beauty  and  perfection  ; 
good  taste  ; refinement  ; purity  of  feeling ; PROPRIETY  of 
conduct  and  expression  ; elegance  ; gentility  and  polish  of 
manners  ; imagination  ; the  ideal  of  poetry,  eloquence,  and 
romance  ; pure  and  elevated  aspirations  ; longing  after  per- 
fection of  character,  and  desire  to  obviate  blemishes,  especially 
moral. 

Large  Ideality  appreciates  and  enjoys  beauty  and  perfec- 
tion wherever  they  are  seen  ; especially  admires  these  quali- 
ties as  found  in  nature ; is  characterized  by  purity  and  pro- 
priety of  expression  and  conduct ; gracefulness  and  polish  of 
manners  and  good  taste  in  all  its  departments ; and  has  a per- 
ception and  manifestation  of  beauty  and  perfection  throughout 
all  the  actions  and  mental  operations.  It  is  to  man  what  the 
beauty  of  the  flower  is  to  the  flower,  or  the  perfection  of  any- 
thing i»  to  the  thing  itself ; and  adds  a charm,  beauty,  and 


ITS  OFFICE  AND  CULTIVATION. 


285 


exquisiteness,  to  the  entire  human  being,  as  much  superior  to 
that  with  which  it  crowns  the  flower,  as  humanity  is  superior 
to  inanimate  nature.  It  “ finishes  off”  its  possessor,  com- 
pletes and  perfects  humanity,  smooths  down  the  rougher 
points  of  character,  and  beautifies  and  adorns  all  he  does  and 
says.  To  consistency  of  opinion,  and  harmony  and  perfection 
of  conduct,  it  is  indispensable.  It  gives  general  consistency, 
propriety,  perfection,  correctness,  and  naturalness,  or  normal- 
ity, to  all  the  feelings,  actions,  opinions,  and  mentality. 

Small  Ideality  is  plain  in  feeling  and  manners ; home- 
spun  ; inelegant ; wanting  in  propriety  ; and  the  con  verse  of 
Ideality  large. 

Located  over  the  temples,  and  an  inch  above  Construct- 
iveness284. It  is  small  in  John  Locke541,  but  large  in 
Shakespeare  552. 

288.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

All  nature  is  one  vast  galaxy  of  beauty.  Perfection  of 
structure,  function,  and  adaptation  characterizes  all  her  works. 
The  flower-bedecked  lawn,  the  meandering  stream,  the  blos- 
soms of  spring,  the  glories  and  the  harvests  of  summer,  the 
beautiful  and  delicious  fruits  of  autumn,  the  silvery  moon,  the 
rising  sun,  the  glowing  west,  tinged  with  the  mellow  hues  of 
departing  day,  the  star-spangled  canopy  of  heaven — all  are 
redolent  with  beauty — all  glow  with  divine  perfection  ! Ani- 
mated nature,  still  more  beautiful ! Man,  the  most  beautiful 
and  perfect  of  all.  Behold  his  majestic  mien,  angelic  form, 
and  face  glowing  with  health  and  irradiated  by  the  soul 
divine  ! 

But  while  all  nature  glows  with  beauty  inexpressible,  and 
is  crowned  with  perfection  such  as  none  but  a God  could  cre- 
ate, it  remains  for  the  human  soul  to  complete  the  very  cli- 
max of  all  terrestrial  beauty  and  perfection.  Infinitely  per- 
fect is  the  nature  of  man  ! 261 

Nor  is  this  beauty  hidden  from  the  sight  of  mortals.  So 
far  therefrom,  man  is  endowed  with  a primary  mental  faculty 
adapted  thereto,  and  capable  of  revelling  therein.  But  for 
some  such  faculty  to  put  him  in  relation  with  this  array  of 


286 


IDEALITY. 


Deauty,  the  latter  would  be  a perfect  blank  to  all  mankind — 
as  much  so  as  colors  are  to  the  blind.  No  son  or  daughter 
of  humanity  could  possibly  have  perceived  its  existence,  much 
less  levelled  in  its  delightful  contemplation  ! Nor  could  any 
have  hungered  or  thirsted  after  self-improvement,  or  longed 
for  perfection  of  character,  or  purity  and  elevation  of  feeling. 
But,  infinite  thanks  to  the  Giver  of  all  good,  He  has  graciously 
endowed  man  with  this  perfecting  sentiment  in  the  invention 
and  creation  of  Ideality.  He  has  first  arrayed  all  nature — 
our  own  natures  included — in  one  grand  halo  of  exquisite 
beauty  and  infinite  perfection,  and  then  adapted  man  thereto, 
by  having  implanted  in  his  soul  this  power  to  recognize  and 
enjoy  these  qualities.  Ideality  confers  this  capacity ; and  un- 
speakable are  the  pleasures  it  is  capable  of  bestowing.  It 
purifies,  refines,  and  elevates  the  soul — creates  a longing  after 
perfection,  intellectual  and  moral,  and  a disgust  of  sin,  because 
debasing  and  corrupting,  and  thus  inspires  us  to  labor  and 
strive  for  moral  excellence,  and  eschew  the  polluting  touch  of 
depravity. 

Its  location  upon  the  borders  of  the  moral  group,  indicates 
that  it  was  designed  to  exert  an  important  moral  influence  on 
character.  It  does.  In  criminals,  confined  for  gross  offences, 
it  is  usually  small.  It  so  chastens  Combativeness  as  to  take 
away  its  harshness  and  roughness,  and  smooth  off  the  resist- 
ance it  offers.  Thus,  let  it  be  small  in  one  of  two  debaters, 
and  large  in  the  other,  the  former  will  come  out  rough-shod 
upon  his  opponent,  and  be  grating,  denunciatory,  harsh,  per- 
haps vulgar,  in  his  tirades — in  short,  will  be  the  coarse  black- 
guard— while  the  latter  will  be  keen,  caustic,  and  cut  to  the 
quick,  yet  do  it  all  up  genteelly,  and  thus  come  off  victor. 
Similar  remarks  apply  to  its  influence  over  the  affections, 
wnich  large  Ideality  polishes  and  refines,  and  thus  prevents 
impropriety,  while  small  Ideality  allows  Amativeness  to  as- 
sume a more  gross  and  sensual  character ; and  thus  of  all 
the  faculties.  Indeed,  its  influence  in  promoting  virtue  and 
moral  purity  is  hardly  excelled  by  any  other  faculty. 

How  important,  then,  its  cultivation ! How  boundless,  how 
exquisite  the  range  of  enjoyment  it  proffers  ! How  promotive 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


287 


of  even  a preparation  for  the  purity  and  glory  of  Heaven  ! 
Let  us  all,  then,  set  at  once  about  its  improvement.  To  en- 
large it,  it  must  be  fed  ; and  to  feed  it,  we  must  contemplate 
beauty215 — the  beauties  of  nature  in  particular,  because  those 
of  art  are  infinitely  inferior  to  those  made  by  God.  Let  us 
give  a few  moments,  as  the  glorious  sun  is  rising  upon  the 
world,  to  that  revery  of  this  faculty  which  his  approach  natu 
rally  inspires.  Let  us,  as  he  sinks  to  rest,  suspend  our  tern 
poral  avocations,  to  cherish  this  divine  sentiment.  Let  us 
study  botany,  and  often  admire  those  beautifully  painted 
flowers  which  “ Solomon  in  all  his  glory”  could  not  equal ; 
seek  yonder  eminence  in  order  to  drink  in  the  glorious  scenery 
below  and  around  ; admire  beautiful  birds,  decked  in  golden 
plumage ; observe  the  gorgeous  rainbow ; and,  above  all, 
cultivate  the  society  of  those  who  are  endowed  with  this  sen- 
timent, as  well  as  avoid  the  company  of  the  coarse  and  vul- 
gar. We  should  also  read  books  the  style  of  which  is  finish- 
ed and  sentiments  elevated,  especially  good  poetry ; cultivate 
a taste  for  the  fine  arts ; practice  personal  neatness  and  ele- 
gance ; express  ourselves  with  beauty  in  conversation  : and 
perpetually  imbibe  and  admire  this  sentiment  from  nature’s 
inexhaustible  stores  of  beauty  and  perfection. 

Few  things  chasten  the  grosser  manifestations  of  the  pas- 
sions, or  elevate  the  soul,  more  than  the  study  of  nature. 
How  perfect,  beautiful,  exquisite,  throughout ! And  yet  her 
beauties  are  comparatively  a sealed  book  to  most  of  her  chil- 
dren, because  they  have  no  eyes  to  read,  no  time  to  contem- 
plate them.  Above  all,  the  society  of  refined  and  pure- 
minded  woman,  beautiful  in  form,  charming  in  manner,  and 
accomplished  in  conversation,  is  calculated  to  excite  and 
develop  this  purifying  faculty. 

Nor  should  the  cultivation  of  moral  perfection  be  omitted. 
It  should  even  constitute  the  great  object  of  all  our  self-per- 
fecting efforts.  We  should  strive  to  obviate  every  imperfec- 
tion, every  flaw  in  our  characters  and  conduct,  and  labor  with 
all  our  powers  to  develop  by  culture  the  inimitable  beauties 
and  perfections  of  human  na  ure  in  general,  and  our  own  in 
particular. 


288 


IDEALITY. 


To  cultivate  this  important  element  in  youth,  do  not  allow 
them  to  go  shabbily  clad,  but  keep  them  as  nice  and  clean  as 
may  be.  Call  their  attention  frequently  to  the  beauties  of 
nature,  and  discourage  all  kinds  of  coarseness  and  vulgarity ; 
but  encourage  gentility  and  refinement. 

289.  ITS  DUE  REGULATION. 

This  faculty  is  often  perverted  ; and  when  so,  causes  much 
mischief.  Few  faculties  require  right  direction  more.  That 
most  pernicious  passion  for  novel-reading,  which  diseases  the 
tastes  and  perverts  the  feelings  of  so  many  youths,  in  part 
springs  from  abnormal  Ideality.  Against  such  reading,  Phre- 
nology loudly  protests.  Their  characters  are  not  natural,  but 
distorted.  They  do  not  teach  human  nature  a tithe  as  well 
as  observation  of  men  and  things,  or  the  study  of  Phrenology. 
Above  all,  they  unduly  excite  and  pervert  the  social  affection, 
and  kindle  fires  of  love  which  should  be  allowed  to  slumber 
till  preparation  for  their  legitimate  exercise  in  marriage  is 
made.  Youth,  especially  those  of  warm  feelings  and  arden. 
imaginations,  are  warned  against  this  nerve-destroying  and 
passion-perverting  practice.  To  young  females  it  is  especially 
injurious.  Besides,  these  love-stories  are  not  exactly  proper 
subjects  with  which  to  imbue  their  minds. 

Another  great  perversion  of  this  faculty  consists  in  neg- 
lectingnatural  beauty  for  artificial.  Art  may  be  beautiful  as 
far  as  she  imitates  nature — and  this  is  not  far — yet,  in  gen- 
eral, artificial  beauty  falls  infinitely  below  natural,  and  many 
things  in  art  called  beautiful,  are  most  deformed — a fashion- 
ably attired,  and  especially  corseted,  and  padded,  and  painted 
female,  for  example.  Art  is  beautiful  only  when,  and  as  far 
as,  she  follows  nature ; but  the  fashions  depart  wofully  from 
this  standard,  and  are  therefore  palpable  violations  of  this  law 
of  taste. 

Fashionable  attire  is  'exceedingly  liable  to  beget  artificial 
manners,  and  thus  render  its  would-be-exquisites  most  awk- 
ward and  ridiculous  in  their  carriage  and  style  of  conversa- 
ion.  Dancing-school  manners  are  especially  exposed  to  this 


FUNCTION  AND  CULTIVATION  OF  SUBLIMITY 


289 


censure  Nature  is  always  beautiful.  Follow  her  and  you 
will  always  be  in  good  taste. 

Children  should  be  kept  as  near  as  possible  to  the  natural- 
ness which  always  adorns  them  till  laid  aside  for  art — should 
be  induced  to  move,  play,  talk,  everything,  without  any  effort 
at  gentility.  Especially  enamor  them  of  natural  beauty  and 
perfection.  This  requisition  for  naturalness  is  especially  ap- 
plicable to  speakers,  most  of  whom  spoil  their  efforts  by 
affectation. 


B.  SUBLIMITY 

290.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  FUNCTION. 

Perception  and  lovq,of  the  grand,  splendid,  awful,  v/ut, 

TOWERING,  ENDLESS,  MAGNIFICENT,  ILLIMITABLE,  and  INF1N  TE. 

Located  between  Ideality  287  and  Cautiousness  264. 

Large  Sublimity  fills  the  soul  with  sublime  emotions  on 
beholding  rugged,  towering  mountains,  foaming,  dashing, 
roaring  cataracts,  a storm  at  sea,  lightning’s  vivid  flash,  ac- 
companied by  loud  peals  of  thunder,  the  commotion  of  the 
elements,  the  star-spangled  canopy  of  heaven,  or  any  other 
manifestation  of  Almighty  power. 

Small  Sublimity  is  comparatively  unaffected  by  these  and 
kindred  phenomena. 

291.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Infinitude  characterizes  every  work  of  the  Almighty. 
Thus,  space  is  illimitable  465  ; the  duration  of  time  from  ever- 
lasting to  everlasting  486;  the  number  of  the  stars,  and  of 
natural  objects,  infinite  420;  the  power  of  causation  absolute 
and  omnipotent  542  ; in  short,  every  species  of  science,  every 
department  of  nature,  is  “ without  a bottom  or  a shore.”  To 
this  infinitude  of  the  Almighty  and  his  works,  Sublimity — a 
more  appropriate  name  for  which  would  be  Infinitude- — is 
adapted,  and  adapts  man.  And  certainly  its  exercise,  beside 
filling  the  soul  with  most  delightful  emotions,  imparts  an  ex- 
pansiveness of  \iews,  a grandeur  of  conception,  a range  and 
25 


290 


IMITATION. 


sweep  of  idea,  a compass  and  volume  to  thought  and  expres 
sion,  without  which  no  adequate  conception  of  truth,  nature, 
or  God,  can  be  formed. 

It  should,  therefore,  be  assiduously  cultivated  by  the  exer. 
cise  of  those  emotions  with  which  it  inspires  us.  We  should 
contemplate  sublime  scenery,  all  exhibitions  of  this  principle 
in  nature,  and  above  all,  the  infinitude  of  God,  as  manifested 
throughout  his  works.  The  Sublimity  of  the  young  should 
also  be  developed  by  similar  means. 

292.  REGULATION. 

This  faculty  is  less  perverted  than  most  others.  Occasion- 
ally it  renders  the  style  of  speaking  and  writing  rather  sopho- 
morical  by  employing  too  much  hyperbole,  and  using  too 
many  extravagant  and  rather  bombastic  words  and  expres- 
sions, which  young  speakers  and  authors  sometimes  requir* 
to  restrain,  or  at  least  to  chasten. 


22.  IMITATION. 

293.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  LARGE,  AND  SMALL. 

Ability  and  disposition  to  imitate,  copy,  take  pattern,  de 
what  we  see  done,  mimic,  etc.  Located  on  the  two  sides  of 
Benevolence281.  It  is  large  in  the  accompanying  cut  of  Clara 
Fisher,  whose  imitative  powers  are  generally  known  as  being 
extraordinary ; but  small  in  that  of  Jacob  Jarvis,  whose  Be- 
nevolence was  remarkable,  but  whose  copying  powers  were 
weak. 

Large  Imitation  evinces  strong  propensity  and  ability  to 
copy,  and  do  things  after  any  pattern  set  by  others ; is  liable 
in  walking,  speaking,  gesticulating,  etc.,  to  adopt  the  pecu- 
liarities of  others ; and  can  describe,  act  out,  and  perhaps 
mimic,  draw,  and  the  like. 

Small  Imitation  fails  in  these  respects ; does  not  conform 
to  the  manners  and  customs  of  others ; is  original  ; and  adopts 
his  own  way  instead  of  patterning  after  others. 


THE  COPYING  INSTINCT. 


m 


IMITATION  LARGE. 


No.  26.  Clara  Fisher. 


IMITATION  SMALL 

13 


294.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

To  take  pattern — to  do  as  others  do — is  as  natural  to  man 
as  breathing.  But  for  this  copying  instinct,  man  could  nei- 
ther talk  nor  write,  both  of  which  consist  in  imitating  one 
common  mode  of  articulating  and  forming  letters  and  words ; 
and  all  learn  to  speak  their  mother-tongue,  whether  English 
or  Arabic,  Chinese  or  Indian,  because  they  copy  the  manner 
of  speaking  from  those  around  them.  Man  also  copies  me- 
chanical and  other  inventions,  and  thus  all  discoveries  and 
improvements  become  disseminated  and  perpetuated  inimit- 
ably ; whereas,  hut  for  this  faculty,  all  new  inventions,  how- 
ever useful,  would  be  confined  to,  and  die  with,  their  authors, 
and  human  advancement  precluded  205.  But  for  this  faculty, 
every  human  being  would  be  obliged  to  originate  everything 
he  did,  and  his  mode  of  doing  it,  in  business,  science,  me- 
chanics, and  even  all  the  trifling  affairs  of  life.  Indeed,  how 
could  man  exist — what  could  he  do  or  become — without  it  ? 
We  also  copy  opinions  and  practices,  and  maintain  a general 
conformity  to  each  other,  every  way  conducive  to  human 
happiness. 


292 


IMITATION. 


A faculty  thus  promotve  of  personal  and  general  progres 
sion  and  enjoyment,  should,  by  all  means,  be  assiduously  cul 
tivated.  This  can  be  done  only  by  its  habitual  exercise 
We  should  therefore  imitate  whatever,  in  others,  will  make  us 
better.  But  mark  : This  faculty  is  located,  not  among  the  pro- 
pensities, but  between  the  intellectual  organs  before,  the  moral 
behind,  and  Constructiveness  below,  so  that  we  should  never 
copy  the  vices  of  men,  but  only  mechanical  and  other  improve- 
ments, correct  opinions,  and  above  all,  their  moral  virtues. 
All  their  valuable  adaptations  of  ways  and  means  to  ends — 
and  these  are  many — as  well  as  all  their  correct  intellectual 
conclusions — the  juxtaposition  of  Imitation  and  Causality 
requires  us  to  adopt.  The  proximity  of  Constructiveness  and 
Imitation  facilitates  our  copying  all  inventions  and  improve- 
ments, in  making  and  using  tools,  machinery,  and  the  like, 
and  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences.  The  location  of  Ideality  by 
Imitation  disposes  us  to  copy  all  matters  of  taste,  in  manners, 
expression,  refinements,  the  fine  arts,  etc. ; and  the  near  resi- 
dence of  the  moral  organs  enjoins  on  us  to  copy  whatever  of 
goodness  and  moral  excellence  we  find  among  men ; yet  none 
can  be  too  careful  what  they  copy,  of  which,  however, 
presently. 

In  children  this  organ  is  especially  large,  and  hence  they 
copy  almost  everything  they  do  and  become  from  those  around 
them.  But  for  this,  their  progress  would  be  very  slow,  and 
their  conformity  to  persons  and  things  around  them  very 
slight.  But  with  this  faculty  thus  spontaneously  active,  how 
soon  they  learn  to  talk — which  consists  in  expressing  their 
minds  as  others  do — in  short,  how  soon  they  learn  to  do  and 
be  as  others  do  and  are.  It  is  really  astonishing  how  quickly 
and  correctly  they  adopt  the  manner  and  everything  of  those 
around  them. 

Proportionally  careful  should  we  be  what  practical  copies 
we  set  them.  “ Example  goes  farther  than  precept.”  They 
do  not  do  or  become  what  they  are  told  to,  but  like  others. 
Scold  them,  and  they  will  scold  one  another.  Be  mild  and 
sweet/and  they  will  pattern  after  your  amiableness.  Swear 
in  their  hearing,  and  they  will  swear,  not  so  much  because 


POWER  OF  EXAMPLE  ON  YOUTH. 


293 


they  feel  wrathful 212  as  because,  monkey-like,  they  do  what 
you  do.  So  of  smoking,  and  a thousand  other  pernicious  hab- 
its. Express  yourself  well  or  ill  in  conversation,  and  they 
will  imitate  you  524  525  526.  And  thus  of  everything  you  say, 
do,  and  are. 

Parents  should  therefore  be  what  they  would  have  their 
children  become.  Rely  not  on  what  you  command  them  to 
do,  but  on  what  you  are.  Your  actions  speak  a thousand 
times  louder  than  words.  An  accurate  observer  can  soon 
tell,  on  seeing  any  family  of  children,  how  the  parents  con- 
duct. The  former  are  but  images  of  the  latter,  reflected  in  this 
mirror  of  Imitation.  A single  bad  example  will  neutralize  a 
thousand  wholesome  precepts.  Hence  the  rapidity  with  which 
vices  spread  among  youth  as  well  as  adults.  O,  parents,  be 
entreated  to  mark  and  practice  a principle  thus  vitally  import- 
ant. First  set  about  the  correction  of  your  own  faults,  and 
the  cultivation  of  your  own  virtues,  and,  without  saying  a sin- 
gle word  to  them,  you  will  render  them  like  yourself.  Never 
mind  them  or  their  faults — probably  copied  from  you.  Say 
nothing,  but  set  them  right  examples,  and  you  will  be  sur- 
prised how  sudden,  how  great  a change  this  will  produce. 
“ Whatsoever  ye  would  that  they  should  do  unto  others,  do  ye 
even  so  unto  them.” 

Above  all,  never  punish  them  for  doing  what  they  see  you 
do.  Yet  how  often  is  this  outrage  on  their  nature  perpetrated  ! 
You  wash  your  hands  or  clothes,  and  your  children  follow  in 
your  footsteps.  You  keep  doing,  yet  tell  them  to  stop ; but 
they  keep  on,  and  you  punish.  For  what  ? Simply  because 
they  yielded  obedience  to  this  powerful  imitative  propensity 
of  their  natures.  And  thus  of  a thousand  other  things  in  life 
equally  innocent.  As  though  this  propensity  were  wrong ! 
What  would  they  be  without  it  ? Chastise  yourself  for  setting 
the  example — not  them  for  spontaneously  following  it.  For 
nothing,  however  bad,  which  a child  patterns  after,  should  it 
ever  be  punished.  All  you  need  to  do  is  to  correct  the 
examples  set  them.  And  many  wrong  things  they  say  and  do 
just  as  parrots  say  “ Pretty  Polly,”  and  mean  no  more  by  it. 
And  many  of  the  smart  things  they  do  and  speak-words  thev 
25* 


294 


IMITATION. 


use  simply  copies  made  by  them,  not  signs  of  any  extra 
genius\  Very  simple  indeed  if  they  could  not. 

295.  ITS  DUE  REGULATION THEATRICALS. 

Rightly  to  exercise  this  faculty,  therefore,  becomes  a most 
important  matter,  both  in  forming  our  characters  and  those 
of  our  children.  If  we  would  adopt  a good  style  of  delivery, 
we  must  listen  to  and  copy  good  speakers,  and  thus  of  writing, 
manners,  and  almost  all  we  do  and  say. 

Yet  we  cannot  be  too  careful  not  to  copy  their  faults  along 
with  their  excellences ; because  we  naturally  imitate  those  we 
admire,  and  their  blemishes  as  well  as  beauties.  In  nothing 
are  nice  discriminations  more  requisite,  and  accordingly  Com- 
parison is  located  close  to  Imitation.  This  organ  imparts  that 
action  to  speakers  which  Demosthenes  said  constituted  the 
first,  second,  and  third  elements  of  oratory.  It  also  gives 
expression,  or  suits  the  action  to  the  word.  In  both  these 
respects,  pattern  after  none  but  good  speakers,  and  then  only 
their  excellences.  Thus  of  style.  One  of  the  ancient  authors 
copied  Herodotus  many  times  over,  in  order  to  acquire  his  style. 
Viewed  in  this  light  of  setting  examples,  which  the  masses  so 
naturally  follow,  how  responsible  the  station  of  public  men  ! 
I often  tremble,  as  I write  and  lecture,  for  fear  that  my  faults 
as  well  as  excellences  may  be  copied,  and  therefore  put  you, 
reader,  on  your  guard. 

Especially  let  us  all  pattern  after  good  men  and  women. 
As  the  moral  virtues  constitute  the  highest  order  of  human 
excellence  and  endowment  211  268  276  279  282,  let  us  copy  them 
wherever  we  find  them.  Yet  those  fashionable  and  aristo- 
cratical  grandees,  who  assume  to  lead  off  the  public  mind, 
are  of  all  others  the  last  to  pattern  after.  I repeat,  no  one, 
especially  no  young  person,  can  be  too  careful  whom  and 

WHAT  THEY  IMITATE. 

Theatricals  are  the  legitimate  product  of  this  mimicking 
faculty.  Shall  they  be  patronized  ? Undoubtedly  they  might 
be  so  conducted  as  to  become  great  public  benefactions,  but 
as  now  managed,  their  influence  is  unequivocally  bad.  Still, 
those  who  deplore  their  evil  tendencies  should  labor  to  cor- 


MIRTHFULNESS. 


295 


rect  them,  rather  than  to  demolish  the  theatre  altogether — 
should,  as  they  can,  turn  it  to  a great  practical  advantage  in 
enforcing  morals,  instead  of  allowing  it  to  remain  in  present 
hands.  The  theatre  must  live  as  long  as  man  exists,  because 
it  is  founded  in  a natural  element  of  the  human  mind.  De- 
stroyed it  can  never  be,  any  more  than  hunger,  or  any  other 
natural  or  legitimate  product  of  any  other  faculty.  All  that 
remains  is  to  sanctify,  and  rightly  wield  its  mighty  power  for 
good.  Yet  I unequivocally  disapprove  of  them  as  now  con- 
ducted. Especially  I warn  the  young  against  them. 


23.  MIRTHFULNESS. 

“ Laugh  and  grow  fat.” 

296.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  LARGE,  AND  SMALL. 

Intuitive  perception  of  the  absurd  and  ridiculous  ; dispo- 
sition and  ability  to  joke,  make  fun,  and  laugh  at  the  im- 
proper, ill-timed,  unbecoming,  etc. ; humor  ; pleasantry  ; 
facetiousness.  Located  backward  from  Causality541,  and 
forward  of  Ideality  78.  It  is  large  in  the  accompanying  ex- 
cellent engraving  of  Joseph  C.  Neal,  the  witty  author  ot 
“ Charcoal  Sketches,”  and  many  other  most  humorous  as  well 
as  sensible  productions,  and  now  editor  of  “ Neal’s  Saturday 
Gazette,”  one  of  the  most  entertaining  and  useful  family 
papers  in  this  country. 

Large  Mirthfulness  enjoys  a hearty  laugh  at  the  imperfec- 
tions and  absurdities  of  others  exceedingly,  and  excels  as 
well  as  delights  in  holding  them  up  to  merited  ridicule  ; makes 
fun  out  of  everything  not  exactly  proper  or  in  good  taste ; and 
is  always  ready  to  give  as  good  a joke  as  it  gets. 

Small  Mirthfulness  fails  to  perceive  its  own  exposures  to 
ridicule,  or  those  of  others,  and  neither  enjoys  nor  can  return 
a joke,  but  is  cut  down  if  laughed  at. 

297.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Man,  though  perfect  by  constitution,  is  not  so  by  cultiva- 
tion or  conduct.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  full  of  weaknesses 


236 


MIRTHFOLNESS* 


MIRTHFULNESS  LARGE, 


and  absurdities,  consequent  on  the  perverted,  excessive,  am 
deficient  action  of  his  faculties  208  216.  To  his  consequent  er- 
rors and  imperfections  this  laughing  faculty  is  adapted.  It 
is  a kind  of  Junius,  or  public  censor.  All  those  manifesta- 
tions of  all  our  faculties  not  in  accordance  with  their  primitive 
constitution,  it  delights  to  expose  and  correct  by  ridiculing 
them.  Thus  caressing  children- — the  normal  function  of 
Parental  Love — is  not  ridiculous,  whereas  an  old  maid  fond- 
ling a lapdog  or  cat  excites  Mirthfulness,  because  this  faculty 
is  not  exercised  upon  its  legitimate  object.  Combativeness 


BENEFITS  OF  MIRTH. 


297 


fighting  a man  of  straw,  Cautiousness  fearing  an  unloaded  gun, 
Destructiveness  pelting  insensible  objects,  Approbativeness 

wearing , are  perversions  of  these  respective  faculties, 

and  therefore  ridiculous.  All  such  unnatural  exercise  of  all 
the  faculties  it  is  the  prerogative  of  Mirthful  ness  to  correct  by 
exposing  them  to  merited  ridicule.  Its  perfecting  influence 
on  mankind  is  therefore  very  great,  and  its  exercise  emi- 
nently beneficial. 

And  in  thus  correcting  the  faults  of  others,  it  wonderfully 
promotes  health,  longevity,  and  happiness.  Few  things  in- 
crease digestion,  respiration,  circulation,  sensation,  and  mental 
action,  more  than  a real  hearty  laugh,  and  certainly  few 
things  are  more  pleasurable.  Its  close  proximity  to  Causal- 
ity aids  that  organ  in  detecting  error  by  perceiving  its  in- 
congruities, and  of  course  opposition  to  truth,  and  also  helps 
reason  to  expose  error  by  ridicule — a favorite  method  of 
argument. 

A faculty  thus  doubly  promotive  of  good,  should  of  course 
be  exercised.  Many  consider  joking  and  fun-making  irreligious 
and  wicked ; but  is  the  right  exercise  of  any  of  our  primitive 
faculties  wrong  ? 208  For  what  was  this  natural  element  of  mind 
created  but  to  be  exercised  ? Such  exercise,  so  far  from  be- 
ing sinful,  is  even  a duty  207  ; nor  can  we  always  keep  on  a long 
face  without  injuring  health,  blunting  our  faculties,  and 
abusing  one  of  Heaven’s  choice  blessings.  Perfection  and 
virtue  require  the  exercise  of  all  our  powers,  Mirthfulness  of 
course  included,  and  we  restrain  its  normal  promptings  at 
our  peril. 

This  faculty  also  allows  us  to  say  many  a true  and  sensible 
thing  in  jest,  and  thus  to  correct  faults  without  naming  them 
directly,  or  giving  offence.  It  also  enables  us  to  express  truth 
in  a witty,  taking  manner,  of  which  Franklin’s  trite  and  sen- 
sible proverbs  furnish  examples.  In  all  these  forms  we  can 
and  should  exercise  this  gift.  It  can  also  be  very  properly 
employed  in  hitting  off  public  errors  and  absurdities. 

To  increase  its  action,  notice  and  laugh  at  the  ridiculous. 
Make  fun.  Take  jokes  without  getting  angry,  and  return  as 
good  as  you  get.  Engage  in  lively  conversation,  attend  pic- 


298 


MIRTHFULNESS. 


nics,  etc.,  and  cultivate  a jovial,  pleasant,  humorous  manner 
of  speaking  and  acting. 

This  faculty  is  large  in  children  generally,  and  should  by 
all  means  be  cultivated.  This  trying  to  render  them  sedate 
and  demure  is  all  wrong.  Rather  let  them  laugh  heartily  and 
often.  Instead  of  preventing  their  sportive  hilarity,  rather 
join  it.  Laugh  and  play  with  them.  Especially  get  up  frol- 
ics just  before  retiring.  Few  things  will  contribute  more  to 
both  their  and  your  health,  talents,  and  enjoyments.  Laugh 
them  out  of  whatever  weaknesses  or  absurdities  may  mar 
them,  and  foster  a lively,  cheerful,  laughing  disposition.  And 
the  more  sound  sense  and  wholesome  suggestions  you  can 
commingle  with  your  witty  sallies  the  better. 

Amusements  are  thus  engrafted  on  the  nature  of  man,  and 
should  therefore  be  provided  and  patronized.  Old  and  young 
require  recreation,  almost  as  much  as  food,  and  will  have  it — 
will  and  should  go  where  they  can  enjoy  a hearty  laugh. 
This  faculty  creates  a demand  for  places  of  public  amuse- 
ment, as  well  as  private  entertainment.  Yet  our  museums 
and  other  laughter-moving  exhibitions,  fall  very  far  short  of 
what  they  might  and  should  be  made.  That  they  should 
combine  instruction  with  amusement  is  rendered  apparent  by 
the  location  of  Mirthfulness  in  the  intellectual  group  ; yet  how 
ridiculously  nonsensical  they  too  generally  are.  They  should 
expose  public  evils  to  merited  ridicule,  and  apply  many  a 
wholesome  truth  in  jest.  For  this  required  combination  of  the 
mirthful  with  the  sensible,  few  things  equal  phrenological  lec- 
tures and  examinations,  as  those  who  have  attended  them  can 
testify.  This  alone  should  entitle  them  to  public  patronage. 
As  profitable  amusements  they  have  no  equal. 

Dancing  also  furnishes  this  requisite  recreation,  as  well  as 
muscular  action 144.  Though  I solemnly  protest  against  pub- 
lic balls,  and  late  dances,  as  now  conducted,  yet  family  and 
social  dances — a few  select  friends  spending  the  evening,  but 
never  continuing  later  than  ten  o’clock,  in  this  most  healthful 
and  animating  amusement,  is  most  beneficial.  The  proximity 
of  Mirthfulness  to  Time  and  Tune,  proves  that  all  three  should 
be  exercised  together,  and  this  is  precisely  what  dancing  se- 


AGREEABLENESS. 


299 


cures.  This  form  of  amusement  is  thus  closely  engrafted  on 
human  nature,  and  can  therefore  never  be  prevented.  Its 
right  direction  alone  remains,  and  this  every  lover  of  his 
race  should  labor  to  secure. 

298.  RESTRAINT  AND  DUE  REGULATION. 

But  this  faculty  is  often  perverted.  Many  ridicule  what  is 
not  only  not  ridiculous  but  actually  right.  Others  laugh  at 
zheir  fellow-men  for  not  rendering  themselves  ridiculous  by 
adopting  some  absurd  fashion  or  opinion,  because  it  is  cus- 
tomary. No  such  exercise  of  this  faculty  should  ever  be 
adopted. 

Others  take  delight  in  saying  cutting  things  which  sting  to 
the  quick,  just  because  they  can,  even  where  there  is  in  reality 
nothing  ridiculous  to  be  laughed  at.  This  is  all  wrong.  To 
wantonly  abrade  feeling  and  cause  pain  is  wicked.  This  fac- 
ulty was  created  to  give  pleasure  instead  of  pain,  even  to  the 
subject  of  the  joke,  and  they  who  do  not  know  how  to  frame 
their  witticisms  so  as  to  hit  off  the  impropriety  they  would  cor 
rect — the  only  legitimate  object  of  ridicule — without  lacerating 
the  feelings,  do  not  understand  the  true  mode  of  operating  with 
this  delicate  instrument.  To  know  just  when  and  how  to  give 
jokes  is  very  desirable,  yet  rare ; and  to  be  able  to  express 
sensible  observations  in  a taking  style,  is  a talent  as  desirable 
as  uncommon. 


C.  AGREEABLENESS. 

“ Persuasive  in  manner,  yet  energetic  in  matter.” 

299.  DEFINITION,  LOCATION,  AND  FUNCTION. 

Pleasantness  ; smoothness  ; ability  to  say  and  do  severe 
riings  in  an  acceptable  manner.  Located  between  Imitation 
above  292,  and  Causality  below541,  and  on  the  two  sides  of 
Human  Nature  538. 

Large  Agreeableness  can  say  and  do  pungent,  severe  things 
in  so  pleasant  a manner  as  not  to  give  offence ; easily  wins 
the  confidence  and  good-will  of  all,  enemies  included  ; so  says 


300 


AGREEABLENESS. 


and  does  things  that  they  take ; makes  few  enemies,  and  gets 
along  smoothly  and  pleasantly  among  men. 

Small  Agreeableness  fails  in  these  and  kindred  respects; 
is  liable  to  say  and  do  even  agreeable  things  disagreeably,  and 
to  make  enemies  by  manner,  where  friends  could  have  been 
secured  by  pleasantness ; and  never  speaks  or  acts  persua- 
sively any  farther  than  it  feels  agreeable. 

300.  ADAPTATION  AND  CULTIVATION. 

Manner  is  often  quite  as  important  as  matter.  Men  will 
often  swallow  bitter  doses  of  truth,  if  expressed  in  a sweet, 
acceptable  manner.  Even  nauseating  pills  can  be  sugared 
over  so  as  to  be  eagerly  and  freely  taken,  which  would  be  un- 
ceremoniously rejected,  unless  rendered  thus  palatable  by 
words  and  looks  of  honeyed  import. 

A law  of  mind  as  palpable  and  important  as  this  should  be 
practiced  by  all,  and  especially  by  those  who  have  any  whole- 
some moral  medicines  they  would  administer  to  individuals 
or  communities.  In  other  words,  all  should  “ choose  out 
acceptable  words,”  and  use  no  other.  To  public  speakers 
this  Agreeableness  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  It  may  be  so 
used  as  to  carry  an  audience  by  storm,  and  render  most  ob- 
noxious truths  inoffensive,  if  not  even  popular.  In  Americans, 
this  organ  is  especially  deficient,  and  therefore  requires 
assiduous  cultivation  in  all.  Especially  should  this  important 
means  of  success  and  happiness  be  encouraged  in  the  young. 
This,  mothers  have  every  facility*  and  should  lose  no  opportu. 
nity  of  doing. 


PUNISHMENT. 


301 


SUMMARY  APPLICATION  TO  JUVENILE  MANAGE- 
MENT AND  PERSONAL  IMPROVEMENT. 

301.  THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 

Having  thus  pointed  out  the  means  of  cultivating  and 
directing  the  individual  faculties,  it  remains  to  apply  this 
whole  subject  practically  to  the  training  of  the  young,  and  to 
self-perfection.  How  can  bad  children  be  governed  and  made 
good  ? A momentous  question,  and  one  which  many  an 
anxious  parent,  thus  far  thwarted  in  all  their  untiring  efforts 
to  gain  the  mastery,  are  asking  almost  in  the  agony  of  despair. 
This  question,  so  vitally  affecting  the  present  and  prospective 
welfare  of  those  most  dear  to  them,  the  principles  already  laid 
down  in  this  work  answer  unequivocally  and  effectually. 
That  answer  observe  and  practice.  It  is  this  : — 

Children  should  never  be  governed  by  punishment  ; be- 
cause all  its  forms  and  degrees  constitutionally  excite  and 
therefore  enlarge  those  very  propensities  you  would  subdue. 
No  chastisement  can  ever  be  inflicted  without  the  exercise  of 
Combativeness  and  Destructiveness  in  the  punisher,  and  there- 
fore without  increasing  them  in  those  punished 215.  This  is  a 
law  of  mind — absolute  and  universal.  In  the  very  nature  of 
things,  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness  in  one  can  never 
overcome  these  faculties  in  others  except  by  extinguishing 
them,  the  pusillanimity  and  consequent  evils  of  which  have 
already  been  exposed  239  242.  This  law  applies  generally  to 
Self-Esteem  and  Firmness — to  both  insubordinate  and  bad- 
tempered  children.  You  can  never  break  their  rebellious 
wills  without  crushing  their  spirits,  and  rendering  them  good 
for  nothing  263 . Almost  as  well  break  their  necks  as  effectually 
subdue  their  wills,  which,  if  punishment  does  not  break,  it  will 
necessarily  increase.  This  result  is  consequent  on  the  very 
nature  of  all  force  government.  Chastisement  is  fuel  to  the 
very  fires  you  vainly  attempt  to  quench.  All  human  beings 
are  created  with  wills  of  their  own.  What  could  they  enjoy 
or  accomplish  without  them  ? Now  the  very  nature  of  wifi 
26 


302 


PERSUASION  BETTER  THAN  FORCE. 


is  to  resist  more  and  more,  the  more  it  is  driven.  Is  not  this 
the  case,  readers,  with  your  own  selves,  and  with  universal 
human  nature?  Does  not  compulsion  always  and  constitu- 
tionally increase  both  anger  and  obstinacy  ? And  are  not 
vouth  human  beings  in  miniature,  endowed  with  passions 
exactly  like  those  of  adults  ? 

Facts,  whenever  and  wherever  observed,  also  confirm  this 
conclusion.  Are  not  our  worst  boys  and  men  those  who  have 
been  punished  most  ? Than  prison  convicts,  who  are  more 
depraved  ? By  far  the  worst  boys  in  my  neighborhood  are 
those  whipped  most.  Applied  to  school  districts  and  commu- 
nities, old  and  young,  is  not  this  a palpable,  universal  fact  ? 

If  it  be  objected  that  “ those  are  punished  most  who  are 
worst,  not  worse  because  chastised  most/5  I reply,  whipping 
even  good  children  will  make  them  bad,  because  it  sears 
their  moral  faculties,  degrades  them  in  their  own  eyes  258  Xl9 
and  compels  them  to  brace  themselves  up  against  it.  It  hard- 
ens them  just  as  friction  thickens  the  skin  on  the  palms  of  the 
hands  and  wherever  it  is  applied.  Beating  even  good  horses 
and  cows  renders  them  fractious,  whereas  gentle  treatment 
will  subdue  the  most  unmanageable.  In  short,  by  a law  of 
mind,  all  artificial  punishment  increases  the  lower,  but  sears 
the  higher,  faculties  of  those  punished,  and  thus  renders  them 
worse. 

Far  be  it  from  me,  however,  to  advocate  the  odious  doctrine 
that  children  need  not  obey  their  parents,  or,  rather,  comply 
with  their  requisitions.  Indeed,  this  is  the  very  thing  I would 
secure.  But  the  question  is,  “ How  can  this  most  desirable 
object  be  effected?55  Ask  human  nature,  “Can  you  be 
coaxed  more  easily  than  driven?55  and  its  universal  response 
from  old  and  young,  high  and  low,  is,  “I  can  be  led  by  a 
hair,  but  forced  never.55  So  palpable  is  this  truth  as  to  have 
been  embodied  in  the  mottos,  “Persuasion  is  better  than 
compulsion.55 — “ One  man  may  lead  a horse  to  water,  but  ten 
men  cannot  make  him  drink.55  This  practical  fact  appertains 
equally  to  children.  Even  though  they  obey  outwardly  from 
fear,  yet  their  nominal  obedience  is  virtual  disobedience,  and 
re-augments  <heir  wilfulness.  Forced  compliance  is  the  worst 


PUNISHING  IN  ANGER. 


303 


form  of  rebellion.  Let  children  who  will  not  obey  voluntarily, 
disobey,  and  then  appeal  to  their  consciences.  Require, 
rather  request  only  what  is  obviously  right,  and  if  they  re- 
fuse, leave  the  issue  with  their  higher  faculties,  of  which 
presently. 

If,  however,  you  still  insist  on  punishing  them,  do  be  en- 
treated never,  on  any  account,  to  chastise  in  a passion.  To 
punish  coolly,  meanwhile  telling  them  that  you  hate  to,  but  that 
your  conscience  and  their  own  good  compel  you  to  inflict  it, 
is  bad  enough,  and  excites  the  very  organs  you  would  sub- 
due ; but  to  strike  in  anger,  and  because  you  are  mad,  is 
barbarous  in  the  extreme,  and,  more  than  anything  else, 
rouses  their  passions  and  blunts  their  moral  sensibilities. 
Said  a mother  to  her  brother,  “ You  are  a most  heartless  man. 
You  punish  your  children  in  cold  blood,  and  even  stop  and  talk 
to  them;  but  I can  never  whip,  mine  till  I get  right  down 
mad.  Then  I love  to  whip,  and  can  tuck  it  on  like  fury.” 
The  result  was  that  every  one  of  her  children  hated  her,  and 
in  her  old  age,  dependent,  blind,  and  decrepit,  would  not 
have  her  in  their  families,  so  that  she  had  to  live  from  house 
to  house  among  her  neighbors! — the  legitimate  consequence 
of  her  flogging  them  in  a passion.  Yet  how  many  parents  do 
this ! 

Said  a whipped  boy  to  his  father,  shaking  his  fist  defyingly 
at  him  : “ When  I get  old  enough,  I’ll  flog  you.”  This  feel- 
ing all  angry  punishment  engenders.  Nor  can  this  direful 
effect  be  avoided. 

“ But,”  say  some,  “ Solomon  taught  that  sparing  the  rod 
spoils  the  child.”  If  he  meant  anything  else  than  that,  when 
you  begin,  you  should  master,  and  not  desist  on  account  of 
his  crying,  he  was  wrong.  Phrenology  inculcates  the  same 
doctrine  265.  Yet  it  tells  you  not  .o  begin  240  243,  but  points  out 
a much  “ more  excellent  way.”  Unless  your  child  is  an  in* 
tellectual  and  moral  idiot,  you  can  subdue  by  appeals  to  the 
higher  faculties  far  more  effectually  than  by  force.  If  you 
cannot  govern  by  love,  be  ashamed  to  own  it,  because  you 
practically  confess  either  that  your  own  moral  and  intellectual 
organs  were  too  low  to  impart  them  to  your  children,  or  else 


304 


TRAINING  THE  WILL. 


that  you  do  not  know  how  to  excite  them.  By  treating  you 
children  as  brutes,  you  practically  confess  that  both  you  and 
they  are  brutish — wanting  in  the  higher  elements  of  hu- 
manity. 

Besides,  suppose  those  children  should  die,  would  not  the 
reflection,  “ I struck  that  dear  departed  angel — I treated  it  as 
if  it  had  been  a brute !”  sting  you  to  the  very  quick,  and 
haunt  you  like  an  avenging  ghost  ? Said  a father  to  me,  “ I 
have  brought  up  eleven  children,  without  ever  having  struck 
one  of  them  a blow.  Two  are  in  heaven ; and  one  of  my 
greatest  consolations  is  that  I never  punished  them.”  “ And 
did  so  large  a family  mind  without  being  whipped  ?”  I in- 
quired. “ I never  had  any  trouble  with  one  of  them,”  he  re- 
plied. A thousand  similar  practical  testimonials  from  parents, 
teachers,  and  all  who  have  had  the  charge  of  men,  confirm 
the  doctrine  that  other  means  exist  for  securing  obedience  far 
more  effectual  than  punishment  of  any  kind,  in  any  degree. 
What  then  are  they  ? 

302.  GOVERNING  BY  INTELLECT  AND  WILL. 

That  every  human  being  is  created  with  a will  of  his  own, 
has  already  been  proved  262.  That  its  creation  confers  the 
right  to  exercise  it,  is  self-evident.  That  such  exercise,  in  all 
we  say  and  do,  is  a solemn  duty,  is  demonstrated  by  two 
facts : first,  that  the  exercise  of  every  faculty  is  a duty,  and 
even  indispensable  to  perfection,  this  of  course  included  ; and, 
secondly,  that  no  action  or  feeling  can  possess  any  moral 
character  unless  it  is  voluntary.  No  human  being  is  or  can 
feel  guilty  for  doing  wrong  when  compelled  so  to  do ; nor  is 
anything  virtuous  done  from  compulsion.  Children  can 
therefore  be  neither  good  nor  bad  any  farther  than  they  did  or 
or  refrained  from  doing  voluntarily.  Is  not  this  a funda 
mental  law  of  morals  ? Does  it  not  carry  its  response  in 
every  human  soul  ? Is  not  volition  indispensable  to  morality 
of  every  thought,  word,  and  deed  ? Then  are  children  an} 
better  when  they  do  right,  or  are  prevented  from  doing  wrong 
by  compulsion  ? Since  right  or  wrong  consist  in  mental  de 
siRFs,  instead  of  physical  acts,  what  better  is  forced  obedience 


TOOLS  FOR  CHILDREN. 


305 


than  rebellion  ? You  must  reach  motive  mainly,  and  this 
can  be  done  only  by  letting  them  choose  and  act  for  them- 
selves. 

Nor  is  there  a more  powerful  promoter  of  virtue  or  pre- 
ventive of  vice  than  will.  As  every  one  must  eat,  breathe, 
reason,  etc.,  for  himself,  so  all  must  choose  the  good  and 
refuse  the  evil  voluntarily.  Nor  can  anything  else  as 
effectually  guard  young  and  old  against  temptation  as  self- 
government262.  If  responsible  for  the  moral  conduct  of  a 
thousand  youth,  I would  hedge  in  virtue  and  keep  out  vice 
mainly  by  developing  this  power  of  choice.  I said  to  an 
anxious  mother,  “ Give  this  boy  more  air  and  exercise.  Let 
him  run  and  play.”  “But  if  I do  he  will  associate  with  bad 
boys,  and  become  like  them,”  she  answered.  “ Better  that 
than  die.  Besides,  do  you  expect  to  keep  him  tied  to  your 
apron-strings  always  ? Where  will  he  be  at  twenty-one  and 
thirty-five  ? To  temptations  he  must  be  exposed,  sooner  or 
later ; nor  is  there  any  salvation  for  him  but  in  training  him 
to  resist  them.  And  the  earlier  this  is  begun,  the  better. 
Fortify  him  against  the  allurements  of  sin  by  cultivating  a 
love  of  goodness — by  developing  his  moral  faculties.  Nothing 
else  can  save  him.  This  is  a salamander-safe — encased  in 
which  he  is  fire-proof  against  flaming  passions,  however 
fierce.”  Thus  I reasoned  with  her,  and  reiterate  to  all. 
Even  if  you  do  prevent  their  sinning  by  excluding  temptation, 
what  better  are  they  ? To  prefer  the  right  when  they 
might  have  chosen  the  wrong,  alone  strengthens  their  moral 
faculties,  alone  subdues  their  propensities.  Parents,  is  not 
this  a great  practical  truth  ? O that  I could  proclaim  it,  as 
with  an  archangel’s  trump,  in  the  ears  of  all  flesh  ! The 
great  point  is  to  induce  young  and  old  to  will  to  do  right. 
How  can  this  be  effected  ? 

By  training  intellect  rightly  to  direct  will.  That  intel- 
lect is  the  enlightener  and  constitutional  pilot  of  the  moral 
affections,  and  these  two  of  propensity,  is  an  already  demon- 
strated  law  of  mind 211.  This  law  requires  that  intellect  and 
morality  control  the  will,  and  this  the  passions.  This  shows 
why  volition  is  necessary  to  give  moral  character  to  feelings 
26* 


306 


TRAINING  THE  WILL. 


and  conduct.  The  grand  point,  then,  both  in  training  the  will 
and  in  resisting  temptations  to  evil,  consists  simply  in  show- 
ing intellect  what  is  right,  and  then  leaving  the  whole  mat- 
ter to  their  own  choice.  This,  this  alone,  can  bring  Conscien- 
tiousness into  the  field,  the  propensity-subduing  power  of 
which  has  already  been  pointed  out  268.  Rest  the  issue  on 
their  own  consciences,  and  they  will  not  dare  to  do  wrong  or 
refrain  from  doing  their  duty.  Conscientiousness  will  thus 
control  their  wills,  the  exercise  of  which  will  strengthen 
them  ; whereas  compelling  them  to  do  right  till  they  are  of 
age,  and  then  sending  them  out  without  the  previous  training 
of  their  self-governing  power  to  encounter  ever-besetting 
temptation,  is  like  walking  for  them  till  they  are  of  age,  and 
then  starting  them  off  on  a long  and  rapid  march. 

A boy,  brought  up  to  do  exactly  as  he  had  been  commanded, 
went  to  live  with  an  uncle,  who  put  him  to  riding  on  horse- 
back, to  plough  out  corn.  Coming  to  a stump  in  the  middle 
of  a row,  he  asked  his  uncle  which  side  he  should  turn  ? 
“ Which  you  please,”  answered  the  uncle.  The  boy  arrived 
at  the  stump,  and  unable  to  decide,  again  whined  out,  “ Which 
side  shall  I go  ?”  “ No  matter  which,  but  go  along.”  How 

could  one  with  so  feeble  a will  resist  temptation,  especially  the 
solicitations  of  depraved  associates  ? Such,  however  moral 
in  feeling,  can  be  enticed  to  anything,  because  they  have  no 
strength  of  purpose  to  carry  out  their  moral  convictions. 

The  whipping  mother  abovementioned,  and  her  husband, 
always  governed  by  shall,  shan’t,  and  the  rod.  Being  reli- 
gious, and  wishing  to  keep  their  children  from  the  vulgarity 
and  vices  of  the  new  country  they  inhabited,  when  these  chil- 
dren asked  permission  to  go  to  parties,  balls,  etc.,  answered, 
“No,  you  shan’t.”  Still  farther  entreated,  they  replied,  “I 
tell  you  no,  you  shan’t,  and  that’s  the  end  of  it.  If  you  do, 
I’ll  fiog  you,  old  as  you  are;  so  go  if  you  dare.”  Youth, 
like  adults,  become  more  determined  when  dared.  Hence 
they  set  their  wits  to  work  to  get  off  by  stratagem.  “Father, 
may  we  go  and  slide  down  hill  to-night?”  “Yes,  go,  and 
hold  your  tongues.”  They  slid — to  the  party ; whereas  if 
the  desire  to  go  to  parties  had  been  quenched,  no  occasion  for 


ANECDOTES. 


307 


such  duplicity  would  have  existed.  Found  out,  they  got  their 
flogging;  still,  since  there  was  no  other  reason  why  they 
should  riot  go,  and  since  they  enjoyed  more  in  going  than  suf- 
fered from  the  whipping,  go  they  would,  and  go  they  did,  and 
thus  lived  in  open  rebellion  and  continued  war  with  their  pa- 
rents, destroyed  their  health,  lost  their  standing,  and  became 
contaminated  with  vice,  and  all  in  consequence  of  bad  pa- 
rental management ; or  rather,  want  of  SELF-government. 

The  cold-blooded  brother,  also  mentioned  above,  who  be- 
longed to  the  same  church,  and  had  the  same  moral  welfare 
of  his  children  at  heart,  when  his  son  asked  leave  to  go  to  the 
same  party,  reasoned  the  case  thus  : “ Is  it  best  for  you  to  go  ? 
Who  is  to  be  there  ? Is  Jim  Brown  going  ? * “ Yes,  sir.” 

“ Did  you  not  tell  me  the  other  day  that  Jim  Brown  used 
naughty  words,  and  was  a very  wicked  boy  ? Do  you  want 
to  mingle  in  the  company  of  such  boys,  and  learn  to  swear 
and  fight  as  he  does  ? for  we  insensibly  become  like  those 
with  whom  we  associate.”  “ No  sir.”  “Is  Joe  Smith  going 
to  be  there  ? “ Yes,  sir.”  “ Did  you  not  tell  me  that  he  had 

been  caught  stealiqg,  and  do  you  want  to  go  in  company  with 
thieves?  And  very  likely  Job  Fay  will  be  there,  and  you 
know  that  he  lies,  swears,  and  is  bad  to  his  parents.  Do  you 
want  to  go  in  company  with  such  boys  ? Besides,  you  will 
be  out  late  at  night,  and  perhaps  be  sick  to-morrow,  will  see 
and  hear  many  things  which  will  make  you  unhappy,  and 
above  all,  will  displease  God.  My  son,  I have  always  done 
all  I could  for  you.  I send  you  to  school.  I make  you  com- 
fortable at  home.  I love  you.  My  greatest  desire,  my  daily 
prayer  to  God  is,  that  you  may  be  good;  for  this  I spare  no 
pains.  Nothing  could  grieve  me  as  much  as  for  you  to  go 
with  bad  boys,  and  become  bad  yourself.  If  you  go,  you  will 
make  me  very  unhappy.  Still,  if  you  really  insist  upon 
going;  go.  There  is  the  horse,  and  I will  help  you  off ; but  I 
much  prefer  that  you  would  be  contented  to  stay ; and  if  so,  I 
will  get  you  some  good  book,  or  a new  article  of  dress,  or  let 
you  spend  a day  with  your  cousins,  or  go  a-fishing,  where  you 


* Real  names  are  suppressed,  out  of  regard  for  the  living. 


SOS 


CULTIVATE  THE  HIGHER  FaCL  LTIES. 


will  take  full  as  much  pleasure  as  in  going  to  the  party,  w.th* 
out  leaving  a sting  on  your  conscience.  But  do  just  as  you 
please.” 

Love  of  these  pernicious  amusements  was  thus  nipped  in 
the  bud,  and  all  desire  to  attend  them,  effectually  eradicated. 
He  had  no  occasion  to  deceive  by  false  pretences  in  order  to 
go,  but  looked  upon  the  amusement  with  aversion  instead  of 
pleasure.  The  same  principle  of  government  was  employed 
with  equal  success  in  regard  to  all  other  matters,  and  the  re- 
sult was,  that  the  whole  family  became  remarkable,  far  and 
wide,  wherever  it  was  known — and  that  was  very  extensively, 
as  it  was  a kind  of  minister’s  and  laymen’s  tavern — for  their 
perfect  obedience  and  high-toned  moral  feelings,  and  are  now 
exerting  a great  and  highly  salutary  moral  influence.  With 
natural  talents  and  advantages  inferior  to  the  other  family, 
they  are  now  every  way  their  superiors. 

What  youth,  thus  trained,  would  have  the  moral  hardihood 
to  violate  the  express  wish  of  a kind  parent,  and  the  dictates 
of  awakened  Conscientiousness  ? Still  another  kindred  means 
of  governing  children,  if  possible  yet  more  effectual,  is — 

303.  ARRAYING  THE  MORAL  FACULTIES  AGAINST  THE  ANIMAL. 

The  former  are  the  constitutional  antagonists  of  the  latter, 
and  when  pitted  against  them,  as  naturally  subjugate  them  as 
alkalis  neutralize  acids.  This  law  has  been  already  proved 
concerning  Conscientiousness  268,  Spirituality  276,  and  Venera- 
tion279 ; and  applies  equally  to  Benevolence  282,  and  Ideality  288. 
Men  could  not  sin  as  they  do  if  their  higher  faculties  were 
brought  to  bear  on  the  lower.  The  great  trouble  is,  their 
moral  are  allowed  to  go  to  sleep  while  their  animal  revel, 
and  then  the  moral  take  their  wakeful  turn.  If  both  classes 
were  but  trained  to  act  together,  the  moral,  by  a law  of  mind, 
would  assume  the  helm.  This  is  their  constitutional  preroga- 
tive. They  are  the  royal  family  of  mind  and  conduct. 
Their  very  constitution  clothes  them  with  “ supreme  authori- 
ty,” even  though  they  may  be  vTeaker,  as  is  shown  in  “ Reli- 
gion.” Indeed,  this  supremacy  is  the  great  idea  of  that  work. 


GOVERNING  THE  LOWER  FACULTIES  BY  THE  HIGHER.  309 

Hence  the  efficacy  of  prayer  in  quenching  the  fires  of  propen- 
sity, as  already  shown  279. 

A personal  anecdote.  When  a boy,  if  I did  wrong,  my 
father  would  arraign  and  so  talk  to  me  as  to  convict  my  con- 
science, make  me  condemn  myself,  and  assign  my  own  pun- 
ishment, as  well  as  appoint  the  time.  That  arrived,  he  would 
summon  me,  but  often  take  me  alone  and  pray  with  and 
for  me  before  chastising.  This  had  a vastly  greater  restrain- 
ing effect  on  me  than  the  punishment,  because  it  arrayed 
Veneration  against  propensity.  “ Keeping  the  fear  of  God 
before  your  children’s  eyes”  will  restrain  depravity,  and 
develop  goodness  infinitely  more  than  all  the  chastisements 
ever  inflicted,  for  reasons  already  given  279.  I thus  recommend 
prayer  as  a philosopher,  not  a religionist  as  such.  Yet  mean- 
while I protest  against  sectarian  piety  as  utterly  powerless 
and  most  pernicious,  because  it  palsies  the  efficacy  of  true 
religion,  and  curses  all  but  blesses  none.* 

Benevolence  exerts  a similarly  restraining  influence  over 
propensity,  especially  over  Combativeness  and  Destructive- 
ness. And  the  more  so  when  acting  in  concert  with  the  do- 
mestic affections.  Cultivate  that  brotherly  and  sisterly  love 
already  recommended  226,  and  your  children  will  never  strike, 
wrangle,  tease,  or  even  fret  each  other.  We  cannot  quarrel 
with  those  we  love.  The  exercise  of  the  moral  virtues  and 
affections  towards  those  in  anger,  as  effectually  nullifies  bad 
temper  as  water  deadens  fire.  “ A soft  answer  turneth  away 
wrath,  but  grievous  words  stir  up  strife.”  When  your  chil- 
dren fret,  your  scolding  them  only  re-inflames  the  passions 
you  would  subdue  ;•  whereas  benignity  excites  their  good  feel- 
ings, and  doing  them  kindnesses  when  they  refuse  to  oblige 
you,  “ heaps  coals  of  fire  on  their  heads.”  These  and  kin- 
dred passages — “ Overcome  evil  with  good  ” — “ If  a man  smite 
thee  on  the  one  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also” — “ Bless 

* The  author  and  his  favorite  science  are  generally  accused  of  favoring 
irreligion,  immorality,  and  infidelity — with  what  justice  let  the  readers  of 
this  volume  say.  Where  can  you  find  their  cultivation  more  strongly 
recommended,  and  even  enforced  as  a paramount  duty  ? Let  our  oppo 
nents  falsify  on ; but  the  day  of  their  reckoning  is  near  at  hand. 


310 


TEACH  YOUTH  THAT 


them  that  curse  you,  and  do  good  unto  them  which  despitefully 
use  and  persecute  you” — mean  something  more  than  is  gene- 
rally supposed. 

Indeed  the  great  precept  they  enjoin  constitutes  the  car- 
dinal doctrine  of  the  New  Testament — embodies  the  great 
practical  truth  Christ  came  to  teach — and  is  none  other  than 
the  cardinal  principle  of  this  work — the  supremacy  of  the 
higher  faculties  over  the  lower.  Say  nothing  to  your  chil- 
dren about  their  sins — drop  all  allusion  to  them — but  assidu- 
ously cultivate  their  moral  and  better  feelings,  and  these  will 
do  the  work  effectually.  Overcome  their  propensities  by  the 
moral  faculties,  and  to  do  this,  remove  stimulants  from  the 
former,  but  apply  them  freely  to  the  latter,  and  you  “ kill  two 
birds  with  one  stone” — completely  subjugate  propensity,  and 
at  the  same  time  develop  those  moral  affections  the  ascendency 
of  which  alone  can  render  them  good  or  happy211.  Appealing 
to  their  intellect,  as  just  recommended,  also  develops  it,  and, 
what  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  train  reason  to  work  in  con- 
junction with  the  moral  faculties,  and  the  two  to  guide  the  will, 
and  then  all  three  will  maintain  easy  and  complete  mastery 
over  propensity,  however  powerful.  The  great  trouble  with 
mankind  is  that  these  respective  classes  of  faculties  act  sep- 
arately and  therefore  fruitlessly ; whereas  concert  would 
obtain  and  maintain  complete  mastery. 

Besides,  this  arraying  the  moral  against  the  animal  is  incom- 
parably the  most  severe  punishment  which  can  be  inflicted. 
The  mental  anguish  consequent  on  contention  among  the  facul- 
ties, has  already  been  pointed  out  207.  When  this  conflict  occurs 
between  the  moral  and  animal,  not  anguish  merely,  but  agony 
is  the  necessary  product.  This  horror  of  horrors  is  nature’s 
punishment,  and  constitutionally  calculated  to  restrain  pro- 
pensity and  develop  morality,  whereas  artificial  punishment 
inflames  the  passions  but  blunts  the  moral  feelings. 

A humane  planter,  in  whipping  a very  bad  slave  for  theft 
and  other  misdemeanors,  after  striking  a blow  or  two,  appealed 
to  his  better  feelings  thus:  “I  have  tried  every  other  way  to 
make  you  better  without  avail,  and  whip  only  because  I must ; 
for  if  I do  not,  all  the  other  slaves  will  become  disobedient.” 


SIN  PUNISHES  ITSELF. 


311 


After  two  or  three  blows  more — “ I give  you  plenty  of  good 
food  and  clothes,  take  care  of  your  wife  and  children,  do  not 
sell  you  as  many  other  masters  would” — “ Massa,  whip  on, 
Fd  rather  you’d  whip  than  talk,”  interrupted  Sambo.  This 
arraying  the  moral  against  the  animal,  besides  being  the  worst 
of  all  punishments,  reforms  bv  awakening  the  moral215,  and 
giving  them  the  victory. 

Finally,  both  this  and  the  preceding  volume  are  based  in 
this  cardinal  principle  of  things,  that  all  laws  are  self-acting — 
reward  their  own  obedience,  and  punish  their  own  infractions. 
And  recompense  adequately.  Does  not  the  Deity  punish 
abundantly  ? Does  he  leave  any  part  to  man  ? Preposter- 
ous ! He  punishes  every  violated  law  to  the  full  extent  re- 
quired, and  so  punishes,  as  in  the  most  effectual  manner  pos- 
sible to  produce  reform.  Nor  requires  any  human  help.  All 
required  to  reform  youth,  criminals,  all  mankind,  is  to  show 
them  wherein  their  bad  feelings  and  actions  punish  themselves. 
No  human  being  can  know  and  realize  that  every  violation 
of  law  will  assuredly  cause  pain,  and  obedience  pleasure, 
without  being  instinctively  and  irresistibly  enticed  and  impelled 
by  the  love  all  constitutionally  have  of  happiness  and  dread 
of  misery — the  grand  summary  of  all  the  motives  of  our  en- 
tire being167 — to  choose  the  right,  and  shrink  from  all  wrong. 
A law  of  things  thus  clear,  universal,  and  efficacious,  com- 
pletely interdicts  all  artificial  punishment,  and  substitutes, 
instead,  this  home  appeal  to  the  grand  controlling  motive  of 
man,  which  at  the  same  time  both  cultivates  their  moral  affec- 
tions, yet,  unlike  all  artificial  punishment,  subdues,  instead 
of  developing  propensity.  Even  God  never  pours  out  his 
wrath  upon  us,  but  simply  allows  us  to  bring  upon  our  own 
heads  the  unalterable  penalties  of  violated  law.  He  inflicts 
no  pain  other  than  the  specific  sin  committed  constitutionally 
brings  with  itself.  Shall  we  not  then  adopt  the  same  course 
to  reform  our  children  which  our  heavenly  Parent  pursues  to- 
ward us  ? Is  not  his  infinitely  wise  plan  of  government  a 
perfect  model  for  us  to  copy  ? Then  let  us  enlighten  intellect, 
train  will,  and  leave  them  to  their  own  choice,  and  its  conse- 
quences. Let  us  nress  perpetually  upon  their  consciences 


312 


ITS  CULTIVATION. 


this  great  practical  truth — that  chosing  the  right  will  necessa- 
rily render  them  happy,  but  that  he  who  sins  must  suffer — 
meanwhile  exemplifying  its  practical  workings  in  their  own 
daily  experience.  This  will  irresistibly  allure  and  compel  them 
to  love  and  practice  goodness,  but  hate  and  eschew  depravity. 

Our  practical  summary,  then,  is  this.  First,  cease  all  pun- 
ishment 30°,  and  even  all  scolding  and  peevishness  240  243  ; next, 
gain  their  affections  221  223  226  ; then  show  them  intellectually 
what  is  right  and  duty  301,  and  make  a solemn  and  powerful 
appeal  to  their  consciences,  and  all  their  moral  faculties,  and  if 
necessary,  array  the  latter  against  their  “ easily  besetting  sin 
and  finally,  after  pointing  out  the  consequences  on  both  sides, 
rest  the  issue  with  their  own  voluntary  choice,  and  they  will 
no  more  dare  to  do  wrong,  or  refuse  to  fulfil  their  whole  duty, 
than  cast  themselves  into  the  fire.  No  human  beings — not 
even  devils  incarnate,  thus  treated — have  the  moral  hardihood 
to  do  wrong  or  refrain  from  doing  right ; and  what  is  still  more, 
this  course  effectually  develops  by  exercise  their  intellectual 
and  moral  faculties,  and  establishes  the  regal  government  in 
the  hands  of  morality  and  intellect — the  constitutional  king 
and  queen  of  human  feeling,  motive,  and  conduct 2H. 

These  propensity-restraining  laws  apply  equally  to  self- 
government  and  improvement.  Cultivating  our  own  moral 
faculties  will,  of  itself,  purify  and  subjugate  propensity, 
especially  if  we  train  will  to  follow  their  dictates.  We  stifle 
them  at  our  peril,  because  every  conquest  by  propensity  weak- 
ens them,  but  strengthens  it.  Doing  as  well  as  we  know 
how  will  teach  us  more ! How  infinitely  short  of  ourselves 
we  live ! Of  all  our  exalted  capabilities,  how  few  we  im- 
prove ! Where  we  might  enjoy  so  much,  how  much  we  suf- 
fer ! Not  a tithe  of  the  natural  talents  and  virtues  of  mankind 
is  improved.  How  many  good  heads  do  I see  unused,  or  used 
wrong  ! This  makes  me  sad  ! Almost  a quarter  of  a century 
I have  asked,  “ Lord,  what  can  I do  to  teach  and  inspire  my 
fellow-men  to  render  themselves  by  cultivation  what  God  has 
capacitated  them  by  nature  to  become?”  “ Write  this 
book,”  was  the  response.  I have  obeyed.  God  grant  that  it 
may  help  attain  that  “ greatest  good” — human  improvement. 


yv 


t'wt  nf 


PUBLISHED  BY 

FOWLERS  AND  WELLS, 


NO.  131  NASSAU  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 

American  Phrenological  Journal  and  Miscel- 

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Constitution  of  Man,  considered  in  Relation 

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Combe’s  Lectures  on  Phrenology.  By  George 

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